The Game
by AuroraAustralice
Summary: Pure-smut(not anymore)...well they have lots of hot sex, BDSM, Draco X Hermione. A game of cat and mouse, she's a virgin and he's wicked, follow Draco and Hermione through the halls of Hogwarts as they explore their explosive desire for each other, lust that strips them of all else. (some Hermione X Astoria)
1. Chapter 1

Hermione felt the back of her neck tingling. It was almost midnight and she was patrolling the deserted hallway of the seventh floor. Even after eight years at Hogwarts and reading Hogwarts a History over a hundred times she felt that the ancient Scottish castle had its own mind; it was constantly changing and moving, strange little nooks and crannies sprang up in unexpected places but this strange feeling welling in her belly had nothing to do with the cool slightly humid summer wind blowing through the windows.

Hermione Granger had returned to Hogwarts to finish her last year of schooling, things with her and Ron hadn't quite worked out as they had imagined them to, Hermione was ambitious, driven and focused while Ron was content with his life as it was, he was in no hurry to achieve more, he was happy with his status as a war hero but Hermione's agile mind demanded she move to the next challenge in her path, from overachieving teenager and child to successful adult and she knew it was going to be hard. Hard to carve out a life for herself away from Harry's shadow, away from the shadow of the war, to grow and transition. But she would work hard, just like she always had.

Harry was struggling to do just that… move on, the things they saw and experienced were hard to put behind them, for a period Harry had struggled with a substance abuse problem before he was told that if he was to become an Auror he had to get his act together, Hermione had coped by pushing herself to her academic limits and Ron simply leaned on his family but what they had gone through together, all those months travelling from one dank, damp place to another to look for Voldemort's Horcruxes had made the three of them a sort of dysfunctional family of their own. So though she and Ron were no longer together they were still just as close if not closer as they had been before they had begun dating.

All three still struggled with various forms of stress, all of them had endless nightmares and what the muggle psychologists referred to as PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, like Harry's substance abuse Hermione too suffered from alcoholism that she was trying to battle. Surprisingly during this whole ordeal because Ron had his family he was never pulled into the abyss of darkness that sometimes threatened to pull either Harry or Hermione under. Hermione's problems had begun when she went to Australia to restore her parent's memories, safe to say that that conversation had not gone well and they had chosen to stay back in Australia, her mother was only now beginning to respond to her letters and phone calls after a year and her father still refused to talk to her.

Hermione had always shared a special bond with Harry even before they traveled together, they had always been closer than Ron and she ever were and now they struggled together because somehow it was like no one else understood them like they understood each other. They were more than just brother and sister, it was like a million tiny invisible strings connected the both of them and she had been devastated when he chose not to return to Hogwarts with her and right now, she was missing him terribly, there was a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach and she just wanted to see her best friend's face or hear him laugh, being alone was a horrid-horrid thing.

Hermione's footsteps echoed in the dark hallway, bouncing of the stone walls… all she wanted to do was get to her room and sleep. Being Head Girl had its perks; she had her own personal quarters that she only shared with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy.

Obviously when she heard the news she had been reluctant but it had been one month since she had returned to Hogwarts and she had barely seen him outside of Prefect meetings and official business. He kept well out of her way and she out of his.

He was an enigma though, granted a full pardon in very public and messy trial, news of him working as a spy for the Order came out and the very next day the Prophet's front page was splashed with the headline.

_Bad Boy Gone Good _

Lucius and Narcissa unfortunately were not that lucky even though Narcissa had saved Harry's life the Ministry was cracking down swiftly on all living Death Eaters and those that hadn't escaped were locked up in Azkaban. Narcissa's sentence was light compared to Lucius's, who was sentenced to death. For now the Malfoy Manor and all the assets of Malfoy Financial, Malfoy Apothecaries and Potions, the Malfoy stakes in each major company including the Firebolt, Nimbus, and media companies like the Witch Weekly, Goblin Financial and the Prophet were held by the eighteen year old Draco Malfoy. He ran a multi-billion galleon collection of businesses while he was still in school. All Hermione knew was that because of his father and mother's sentences he had to drop out of Auror training and return to Hogwarts to do his NEWT's but according to the financial section of the Prophet Draco taking over his father's companies and the various stocks and shares was for the best, the companies were thriving, diversifying and expanding with the help of a few intelligent men and women in his team. Officially of-course Draco could not take over the companies without earning his NEWT's and a muggle degree in finance, a muggle degree because most of the new investors and shareholders were CFO's and CEO's of muggle Fortune 500 companies.

So she was essentially living with a celebrity. A celebrity who hadn't said ten words to her in the course of the one month they had been living within a hundred feet of each other, he would merely grunt or say things like 'move Granger,' 'Pass the mustard Granger,' 'Go over the schedule Granger,'. So basically he was the same inconsiderate arsehole who had bullied her for seven years and a messy arsehole at that. Draco Malfoy was a dumper… not in the relationship sense but in the literal 'throw your Quidditch equipment in the Common Room' 'leave your dirty laundry and candy wrappers lying around' sense. The exact, infuriating opposite of Hermione.

But a rather hot opposite if she let herself think about that, he had grown up and grown out… his thin pinched expression of half-starvation had been replaced with merely beautifully sculptured cheekbones and a jaw line any muggle male-model would kill for, his hair had grown out, falling in messy bangs around his wild gunmetal gray eyes, he had grown into his face and into his body, at a little past six feet he towered over Hermione who was a diminutive five feet one inches, he used to look gangly and uncoordinated but over the summer lean muscles and a swaggering grace had taken the place of noodle legs and arms too large for his body. Sleek and tapered, leashed strength like a caged panthers. He was beautiful, infuriating horrid man who aggravating her by his mere existence.

Hermione just shook her head and continued down the hallway to check the empty classroom at the end.

She paused at the door of the classroom and raised her wand, something wasn't right…

And just as she had suspected when she tried to open the door it wouldn't budge.

"Whoever is in there, open the door this very second?! It is almost midnight; you are not allowed to be out of bed at this hour. Open the door immediately or I will be forced to." she said loudly. She waited for a response but when it didn't come Hermione muttered a spell under her breath Draco Malfoy momentarily forgotten and then the door swung open… and then she understood why no one responded to her.

Astoria Greengrass was pushed up against the wall, her arms looked like they were bound with leather, and her uniform skirt was hiked up as she moaned, a familiar head of shaggy blond hair was bent over her amber head as Draco Malfoy, Head Boy and her roommate thrust into the girl. Hermione was so shocked that she shrieked and dropped her wand but that did nothing to stop the fucking couple. A few seconds later when Hermione could finally move, Astoria gave a loud moan and collapsed against Draco and finally lifted her eyes only to spot Hermione rooted in shock and horror at the doorway of the classroom.

Hermione saw Astoria's gaze and turned and fled from there, running fast towards her own rooms.

…..

I never talk about this, I forget I ever saw what I saw, nothing happened, what the fuck was that?! Hermione finally in her room was tucked into her bed trying NOT to think about what she had just witnessed.

It was just sex, normal people have sex… she reassured herself, there was nothing wrong with sex… except that didn't look like normal sex, that looked like kinky sex. What is it with powerful people and fetishes? She wondered to herself.

Hermione wondered what it would have been like to be Astoria, tied up… helpless, it didn't look like it was hurting her, actually just the opposite, her face had been contorted in pleasure, the kind of pleasure that Hermione had yet to experience, she was jealous and curious.

She wanted to see what it was like and so she did something she had never done before, with hesitant, exploratory fingers she tugged her nightgowns lace panels apart and ran a single finger down her center. What would it be like, to have him touch me? His hands were larger than hers; she scraped her fingers lightly over her rosebud nipples, her thumbs caressing the underside of her tender breasts. She had never been touched before, other than a few kisses from Ron. She wet one fingertip and drew around her areola, wondering all the while what it would be like to have it sucked gently into Draco's mouth.

Would he tie her hands and legs together? Moisture gathered slowly, a soft tight feeling in her belly. She felt strange…swollen, rucking the white nighty up to her hips she pulled the boy-shorts she had on down her smooth legs.

She spread her legs slowly, one hand still danced on her right breast but she was curious to know more, the other played hesitantly on her softly rounded belly before finally reaching down to gently part the lips of her pussy… she was wet, her slim fingers explored lightly, touching slowly until she reached the little nubbin at the head of her sex, she played around her clit, rubbing teasing circles around the bundle of sensitive nerves. She turned her face, moaning as silently as she could into the pillow near her. Two fingers playing along the length of her soft wet cunt, rubbing at her clit furiously as images of Draco and her jumped through her mind.

Her thighs were slick and moved restlessly on the bed, the tight knot in her belly wouldn't ease, her other hand's fingers danced from breast to breast, playing with her sensitive nipples, rubbing, pulling trying to unclench the tightness in her womb. Before long she was panting, her hand slicked with her warm, sweet juices and her body arching up out of the bed, her belly quivered and Hermione felt her body tighten mid-arch as the heaviness in her stomach grew almost painfully tight, unconsciously her legs opened wider and tremors of harsh pleasure ran up and down her spine as her pussy leaked her sweet-sweet juices down her legs, her orgasm shook her body violently and as she came down she realized she had just touched herself to images of Draco Malfoy fucking her.

….

She felt like a voyeur and a slut. Hermione stood in front of the mirror for the tenth time in the morning, it was already 11:30 and she hadn't had the courage to step out of her room, thankfully it was a Saturday and there were no classes but she couldn't hide in her room forever. She didn't look any different but she couldn't shake the feeling that Draco would know what she had been doing if he saw her.

This is ridiculous she told herself sternly, you can't stay in the room all day… you have to get out. So Hermione squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and reassured herself a thousand times that Draco Malfoy was rarely in the room on a Saturday before stepping out.

She almost breathed a sigh of relief before shaking her head and heading to the portrait hole to leave their quarters before a soft, wicked voice said in a taunting tone… "Going somewhere Granger?"

….

REVIEWS!


	2. Chapter 2: The Kiss of Addiction

"Yes…" she stammered uncomfortably, "Just thought I'd go for a walk, it is such a lovely day out." She said still refusing to look at him.

"I think you should stay." He whispered in his husky, dangerously low voice. Hermione shivered as he spoke, Draco had a voice of sin, it washed over her like a warm bath of honey… sweet and a little tart, submerging her in a thick, dark fantasy of magic scents and unknown feelings.

Her belly tingled, "Please…" she whispered breathlessly, "Pease let me go, I…"

"You..?" he prompted her softly.

"I didn't mean to look; I just thought it was some children messing about. I'm sorry." She still hadn't turned her face to face him.

"Did you like what you saw?" he questioned her in his silky voice, "Turn around, Granger." He hadn't touched her even once; he merely walked around her, circling her like a predator. "I asked you something Granger… did you like what you saw?"

"I…I said I'm sorry, please Draco." She whispered, she wasn't scared of him… Hermione Granger wasn't scared of anyone or anything except the reaction her body was having to him. His voice made her weak; her full cheeks were flushed with high feverish color and her skin tingled.

"Look at you." he whispered, "You're a mess, why is that Hermione?" and finally he touched her, Hermione wasn't sure if she was going to sob with relief or hopelessness, she wanted to touch him but this was wrong.

"Did you like seeing Astoria's hands all tied up?" he said leaning in close, his large hands making makeshift manacles around her own tiny ones, he whispered into her ear… his warm breath brushing over the gooseflesh that covered the tender flesh of her neck.

"You're with Astoria, Draco… this isn't right." She said lifting her amber eyes to his which she realized was a huge mistake. He looked hungry, his incredible silver eyes reminded her of a wolf's, wild, narrowed in almost feral desire that he was quick to mask. But all the same her womb clenched in reaction to that look and her breath caught.

"Oh, I'm not 'with' Astoria…yet. We're just fucking." He laughed coldly, "She's engaged to me and I'm not the only one she's fucking, princess." He smirked at Hermione's scandalized face, "You Gryffindor's are all so fucking righteous." he said bitterly, looking at her face, "It's just sex Granger."

"But sex is supposed to mean something Draco." She said softly.

"You're so fucking naïve." He growled shaking his head, "We are two people who are so fundamentally different and yet look at you, cheeks flushed, hands shaking, those panting little breaths…" he leaned in even closer, his tongue snaking out and gently laving the soft shell of her ear, "Do you really think that love." He spat the word in disgust, "Has anything to do with it?"

"I…I can't think, when you're touching me like that, could you please just…not touch."

He laughed huskily before drawing her further into his chest, his hands still locked around her own, "You'd look so pretty all tied up in silk, your legs spread, your breasts thrust out, panting as a I run my fingers down your soft skin, I wonder how you taste? Like champagne and strawberries or like vanilla and honey, sweet thing? "

He ran his lips over her neck, her breath hitched, "We can't do this Draco."

"Why? You seem eager enough."

"Because we work together, we have to live together for the next year and even though sex may mean nothing to you, I want it to mean something to me." She said firmly.

"You're a virgin aren't you." his tone was one of amusement.

"So what?" she said defiantly.

"You talk like one." He laughed cruelly.

"You're a cynic." She countered.

"I am, I would have thought you would have been too what with all that we have seen and done."

"This is different." She said softly. "This is just a game to you."

"Are you too scared to play, princess?" he taunted drawing her even closer but not touching her anywhere other than her hands captured within his own, so close and yet he refused to touch her. And she couldn't bring herself to admit that she wanted him to touch her…

"Yes… I'm scared"

"Of what?"

"I'm not like you Draco." She tried to explain, "I don't …I can't have this kind of a relationship with you. I don't understand it…"

"It's out of your control that's why you're running."

"I can't…"

"Try it, try surrendering…" he whispered in his silken voice, his compelling tone, gravel covered in satin pushing past the barriers that had protected her for so many years.

"This is wrong, you hate me, I'm a mudblood remember, you have bullied me for years." She gasped as he finally fit his hands around her hips and pulled her fully into him.

"You talk too much." He whispered before leaning down and pressing his lips against her own, Hermione who hadn't kissed anyone other than Ron before this gasped at the feeling of pure desire coursing through her veins, like liquid fire it raced up her spine and made her weak to her very soul, her hands went around his neck in an attempt to keep herself upright while Draco's bold fingers travelled down her back leaving a trail of fire in their wake. She had never been kissed like this before, it wasn't soft and nice, his sculptured lips were firm, slanting and gliding over hers like they were conquering, her mouth was soft… plaint, opening helplessly to welcome the assault of sensual pleasure that threatened to turn her body into raging flames. His kisses were like the man himself, arrogant, self-assured and dominant, he swirled his tongue around hers, dipping into the sweet craven of her mouth, tasting…branding.

Hermione now understood, when the women from her romance novels talked about kissing as this special, magical occasion, like spring bursting forth before your eyes or the first cold snowflakes you catch on the tip of your tongue, kissing Draco… it even sounded beautiful, was like feeling a flower bloom in her chest, like letting a bird out of a cage and watching it fly away… it was liberating but not just liberating, it was magical and fiery, it was moonshine and rays of sunlight mingled in harmony, it was a whisper of wind in a humid night, it was the first sip of Butterbeer to warm you up after a cold day, it was what addiction tasted like, it was wonderful and scary.

For someone like Hermione who had always known what was right and what was wrong and had never had any trouble choosing the former it was terrifying, this ache to do something that she knew was so wrong.

When he lifted his head she wrenched away from him, gasping, flushed and aching.

"No…" she whispered, "This is wrong." Before turning and running out of the room.

…..

Two chapters in a day, I think this deserves some reviews :P Click that button and leave behind your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3: An Agreement

**Important Authors Note at the end, have a look at it please.**

…..

Hermione ran from the room, she ran, desperately trying to push down the feeling of lust coursing through her veins.

Give her a vicious psychopath wanting to wipe out half the wizerding race, oh sure! No problems at all! Give her a batty, nut job who lost all her marbles in Azkaban and wanted to carve her up, absolutely no issues, all in a day's work but dealing with Draco… dealing with being _attracted to Draco. _Nope. Not happening. That is where she drew the fucking line because…because well she didn't have a very good reason right now but she would think of one! She was the brightest fucking witch of their age!

Hermione liked stability and normal things… she wasn't attracted to things like whips and chains and pain, but her body was in direct contradiction. She was painfully aroused, aroused in a manner was new and strange to her, sure she had read her fair share of illicitly stolen and hidden behind comic-books erotica, she had seen naked men and giggled about it with her girlfriends, she had talked about the 'hot' boys she would have liked to date with Ginny or Parvati or Lavender but arousal was foreign to her. She could feel her wet panty's chafing her tender inner thighs but she'd be damned if she went back and changed. He was probably sitting there… smirking she thought with a shudder of anger.

No. No!

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, she was Hermione Jean Granger. War Hero at seventeen, Brightest Witch of their age, Hogwarts Head Girl, Order of Merlin First Class and she would not be scared into running like a terrified little girl by some blond...FERRET! She spun on her heel and determinedly began to stride back towards the Heads private chamber, muttering furiously under her breath. Arousal be damned! She was going to have words with Draco Malfoy!

Students watched wryly as the tiny Head Girl turned and started back to where she had come from, her curly reddish- brown hair seemed to be charged with static and her little hands were balled into tight little fists at her side as she mumbled under her breath.

Obviously she was already inside the dorm before she realized what a stupid idea confronting him was in the first place.

Stupid… she cursed herself, stupid, stupid ninny!

"Back so soon?" inquired the blond menace seated nonchalantly on the sofa, casually studying a Quidditch magazine, "Did you have a pleasant walk?"

"Now you listen here, Malfoy!" she began rather well, she thought, not bad… now just keep going!

"You call me Draco, _Hermione._" He said using his silky voice, the one that threatened to turn her into a slobbering pile of mush.

"Malfoy," She said firmly, "We must talk about what I saw and what you think I want from you." but before she could finish he interrupted her again.

"There is nothing to discuss." He said, turning his silver eyes towards her, "I want you. It's simple."

"But what if I don't want you!?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Liar."

"I am NOT lying!"

"Oh really?" he said, suddenly moving, "So…" his voice had taken a dangerously seductive undertone, "Hmmm…. You're panting; do you know how deliciously your breasts thrust out when you pant? Or how your cheeks flush with this delicious pink color or how you lick your lips constantly… when I kissed you today, did your pretty little pussy get wet? Did your nipples harden? Are they pink, _Hermione? _Like little berries? Look at me your little liar…let me see those flushed cheeks."

"This is wrong…" she whispered, refusing to turn her head towards him and let him see her eyes because she was so-so very afraid that he would be able to see the desire so clearly reflected in them.

"Why is it wrong?" he said angrily.

"Not including all our history, a relationship like this it's not bound to last. We're much too different." She said softly.

"It's not meant to last Hermione, I'm a Malfoy, when I come of age I'll probably marry the girl my parents picked out for me when I was a young child! And you'll probably go back to your Weasel and have cutsie little red headed babies, we live our lives, create amazing memories of our wild youth in moments like these!" he said laughing bitterly at the irony of the statement, "I am attracted to you and you are to me, stop thinking so fucking much!"

"No strings?" she whispered, feeling emboldened by his words.

"No strings." He said firmly.

"All right then."

…..

**Threesome with Astoria?**

**Yes?**

**No?**

**Leave your thoughts behind.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Touch of Stars

._. ._. ._. ._. ._.

….

"So what now?" she whispered, "Do we do _it_?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "You don't have to whisper, no one can hear you, Granger."

"I was reacting according to the mood, Malfoy." She replied haughtily, "I can't exactly be normal you tosser, I don't go around doing stuff like this all the time."

"Lesson number one." He said narrowing his eyes, "Learn to keep a check on that pretty little mouth or I shall gag you, _Hermione._" He said silkily.

Immediately she began to retaliate but was stopped by a single slim finger on her lips, "Lesson number one, sweet." He reminded her.

She narrowed her amber eyes and glared at the infuriating blond, gag her indeed! If Draco didn't watch himself he was going to find out just how nasty Hermione could be when she got angry.

Just as she was reaching for her wand, Draco's arm whipped out and took it from her and chucked it to one side of the room.

All the while his smirk never left his face, "Lesson number two… pulling something like that will get you spanked." He whispered into her ear while backing her into the closest hard surface he could find, "This is your first time, so we go slowly." He whispered, pressing her closer as his lips gently descending onto her own. Hermione arched up, clinging with her mouth… her soft lips open under his own, her little tongue meandering into mouth. He tasted like smoke and mint, and she loved it, her fingers caressed his nape, tunneling into his soft hair in an effort to bring him closer. Draco nipped her plump lower lip, "Sweet…" he whispered lifting his head up for a second before she reached for him again, running her tongue over the seam of his lips, "Kiss me harder, Draco." She cried, writhing in his arms… he tasted like everything Hermione imagined sin would taste like, tart and harsh yet subtle and smoothly sensual.

He growled low in his throat, pressing her harder against the wall and lifting her, her legs wound around his waist, her aching core pressed against his own arousal, she tasted like sweetness and he was addicted, again his lips found her's, opening like a flower he dipped into her sweetness, melding together, tasting, touching.

"Enough…" he growled into her ear, "I've wanted you for too long , I can wait no longer. Strip..." he whispered, his voice dropping a few octaves, making Hermione's legs clench together, her hands shook as she undid each button of her shirt, one at a time. His mouth had moved from her own down to her throat, his lips caressed the pulse thumping erratically at the base of her throat, his tongue flicking out to lave it as his large hands moved from her waist to her breasts, palming them through the thin cotton bra she wore, her hands seemed to have a life of their own, caressing his back, exploring the corded muscles, arching up with a loud moan as he drew the skin of her soft neck into his mouth and suckled, her short nails dug into his back, whilst he quickly divested her of her bra.

"Aren't we going a bit too fast?" she asked him, moaning softly when he bit into the soft skin of her breast.

"Do you want me to stop?" he whispered.

"Don't you dare, Draco Malfoy!" she groaned low in her throat as his agile fingers plucked at her sensitive nipples.

"I thought you were all about the 'getting to know one another before sleeping together' bullcrap." He smirked teasingly.

"Draco Malfoy…" she moaned, arching up towards him as his talented lips covered one dusky rose colored nipple, "We are in the heat of passion." She groaned, earning a sarcastic snort into her breast from him. "Either you shut up and do what I need you to do or I do it myself and besides I don't think you'd like to wait…" she giggled as one small hand caressed the bulge in his pants.

Draco growled low and pressed her harder into the wall, "No…no I don't think I would.", he then picked her up suddenly and nearly ran to his room.

Hermione didn't have time to look around or even think before he was ripping the skirt of her, "Keep your hands above your head, no touching until I say so." He whispered silkily, his large hands moving feather soft down her hips and his artful mouth and tongue following. From her breasts, Draco kissed down her softly rounded belly to her hip bones, his hands caressing her thighs. Hermione sighed, as the tingling from her pussy spread to her belly, heat at tips of his fingers shocked her sensitive skin, delighting in his beautiful caresses.

"Will it hurt Draco?" she whimpered, her fear of the unknown getting the better of her for a second.

"For a second." He told her honestly, "But then…" he moved up to kiss her , his lips slanting over her own, filling her with his sweet, musky flavor, "Then comes the pleasure."

She nodded her head and he smiled before removing her plain cotton panty's, her pussy was wet and an unknown ache filled her womb. Draco growled, "You smell for fucking sweet." Before he flicked his tongue out and licked her slit, Hermione gasped at the wrongness of the gesture but his mouth was already on her, gently lapping up her sweet juices, Hermione's hands clutched at his head, drawing him closer, her hips arching into his mouth.

"Yes…" she moaned softly, "Oh Draco…" as the pleasure-pain in her belly moved to her pussy, but just as she was about to orgasm Draco lifted his lips, running a finger over her leaking slit gathering her juices he held it to her lips. Hermione's eyes were hooded in pleasure; silently she sucked his finger into her luscious lips, tasting her own essence on him.

"Ready to explore a bit, love." He was breathing harshly.

She just nodded as he gently guided her down. Hermione fumbled with the zipper hurriedly, the ache within her was growing like a fire breathing monster, the fire trying to consume her from her very soul. Her thighs were slick, her fingers shook, her body was beaded with perspiration, and she looked like a million glittering jewels were stuck to her skin.

He was beautiful, a smooth ridged shaft covered in silky skin. "Put your lips on my dick, love." He growled.

Only Draco Malfoy could make something so degrading sound sensual, Hermione thought as she wrapped her lips around him, her small tongue darting out to taste the pre-cum. "Suck gently." He said while guiding her head, up and down gently, his fingers caught in her curly hair. Hermione's hands began to take a life of their own as they explored his heavy low hanging balls and caressed the underside of his shaft, Draco moaned, "Enough, Hermione." He almost snarled, his silver eyes black with need he wrenched her up.

"I was just beginning to have fun." She pouted with a coy smile, her hand still lingering on his hard member.

Draco merely arched an eyebrow and pushed her back onto the silky sheets, "The first time I cum, it's going to be inside you, princess." He told her seductively, lifting her slim pretty calf until it rested on his strong shoulder. His leaned down and gently suckled on her deep red nipples, making her moan until she felt the tip of his dick at her soft entrance. The fire inside Hermione clawed to the surface and her belly ached with desperation, she was at the peak of her arousal, her lips open; painted cherry red by their kisses, her eyes glazed, her breasts heaving, soft pinkish marks of his kisses decorating her body and her soul quivering for his possession.

Draco began with shallow thrusts until he could feel her hymen; gently he penetrated her, holding her tight as she cried out in pain. As Hermione's body began to adjust to his, she could feel the welling up inside her.

"Fuck me, Draco." She whispered, "Fuck me hard."

Draco moved slowly, experimentally a few times, waiting for her to adjust and when she began to thrust with him he increased the pace, her leg slid down from his shoulder to his hips, clenching around him as he moved. Their body's danced to the oldest rhythm known to man, their moans and soft sighs the music to their dance.

Hermione's body clenched as she cried out loudly, a mini orgasm just before the grand performance. Draco moved, drawing Hermione closer to him, they were almost sitting as he pushed deeper and deeper into her, his hands tangled in her hair, her own raking up his back, clamping around his biceps.

As he hit her spot she arched up, her legs opening wide and her lips caught in a silent moan, they were hurtling towards the abyss. Hermione rode him until she could almost feel the stars behind her eyes.

"Draco!" she screamed as they both clenched at the same time, their bodies heaving and thrusting together in a wild beautiful harmony. Their cried out as they touched the stars and burst into flames.

._. ._. ._. ._. ._.

_**Tell me what you think? Also Sea Rover will be updated today or tomorrow, and that will be final chapter! **_


	5. Chapter 5: Writing Poetry On Skin

….

Hermione glanced at Draco shyly; this was new territory for her. What was she supposed to say? Thanks for the excellent fuck; we'll do it again soon?

"You think too much…" came his husky voice.

"Huh?"

"Stop over-analyzing everything, Granger." He whispered, sitting up and running a hand through his messy hair, one muscular arm slid around her waist and he dropped back onto the soft bed, taking her with him. Hermione remained stiff in the circle of his arms, and he just sighed.

"Do you regret it?" he asked, rolling over her, his long legs tangling with her own and the silky black sheets cocooning them in a sensual little bundle. Hermione could smell the faint scent of his skin, warm and spicy.

"Huh?"

"I asked you, if you regretted it…" he said, amused. Lifting her chin up so that she met his eyes.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet." She laughed a tad bit nervously.

"What's there to sink in, Granger? We had sex…phenomenal, mind-blowing, star-bursting and becoming a supernova-isk sex."

"You know astronomy?" she said, amazed. He laughed huskily, "Only you, Granger."

"I am sorry, but look at it from my side Draco, until yesterday I had no idea that you knew I existed, you've been ignoring me like the plague since the start of this year and even if you did know I was alive you hated me with every fiber of your being. Before today I couldn't have paid you a million galleons to smile at me… a genuine smile, not one of your nasty smirks." She laid a hand on his chest.

Draco lay back as Hermione crawled over him, her legs straddling his waist, both her palms on his chest. While he was silent, Hermione had time to marvel… with tentative fingers she explored the contours of his abdomen, so very different from her own… soft, supple muscle moved gracefully as his breath left his body, his smooth neck with their jutting collar bone covered in silky skin only disrupted by a smattering of fine golden hair that covered his sternum and led down his belly, Hermione traced the faint indentations of his ribs. Till only just a year back he had been painfully thin, his faced pinched and pale…bloodless.

But now his patrician features had lost their pointy edge but remained sharp, a square forceful thrusting jaw and an aristocratic nose that spoke of cruelty, his sensual lips were in contrast to the rest of his rather harsh, cold features… full and so perfectly kissable. Hermione shuddered delicately, it was such a perfect word, that… kiss, a tiny four letter word that was filled with such mystery and intrigue, could mean anything, friendship or misty nights spent in your lovers arms, your lips red and bee –stung because you couldn't stop kissing one another, lips melding… hands caressing, discovering hidden the contours and shadowy crevices of each other's bodies, drawing closer and closer to perfection.

But if she had to choose what she loved most about his face it would be his eyes, not just their stormy, violent almost catastrophic gray… no she wouldn't say it was the color, because that color hid so much of what she wanted to know about him. It was everything from his finely arched dark blond brows, to the hollow delineation under them where she could see the thin red and blue lines, the pale, delicate skin that covered them from her, yet from which she could see his eyes dart about in sleep, chasing dreams or fending off nightmares that would forever be hidden from her, his thick sooty lashes that brushed his cheeks like pale crescents, making dancing shadows, that arched and spun upon his lash like cheekbones.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered.

"Was my smirk really that nasty?" he whispered back with a small grin on his face.

Hermione gave him a gentle smack on his chest, but then a sudden thought came to her, souring her soft smile, "Draco, you said this was just sex… should we be laying her like this? Together?" she said hesitantly, because she wanted to remain, captured in their own little time bubble with no conscience thought about what was happening outside, their little bubble lingered like a flighty butterfly, so temptingly iridescent and faultless but they had to dance around it gingerly lest it flee in fear.

"Hermione…" he said capturing her wrists in his own larger hands, "This is a natural part of love play between a man and a woman." He said, drawing her closer, his lips drawing a delicate picture upon her warm skin, "We tease…" he whispered, his lips barely touching the skin behind her ear, "We play…" he said, blowing softly upon the freshly laved skin, "We perform…" he said sliding his other arm around her, his nimble fingers already on her breast, eliciting a faint gasp from her, "We write poetry on one another's bodies. Poems of love and desire and fierce lust…" he said nudging her legs apart, "We dance…" he said rocking into the cradle of her thighs, "Flitting…" he said, with a shallow thrust, "Flying…" his lips on her own, his tongue dipping into her lips to mingle with hers, "Challenging…" he drew her hips closer, urging her to move with his… swallowing her shallow moans and breathless half-pants.

He fell back, his hands on her breasts and her fingers dancing lightly on his chest. The sheets tangled around them hopelessly, the silk sliding up and down their bodies as their moans and gasps lit the charged air with dark, earthy promises.

"Together…" he whispered, "Move with me, princess…"

Hermione threw her head back in abandon, her lips parted as she felt the cool nights air upon her back, her sleep lulled skin was alive and tingling with a million shocks as his hands travelled over her thighs clamped around him. His own neck was thrust back in a loud groan, as he met her wild thrusts with his own.

Hermione felt free, the sweat poured down her back, her thick hair clung to her neck and she could feel the scent of her own mad arousal around her.

And they moaned, "Together…" in unison.

…..

**Heya, sorry for not updating but I've been lacking inspiration lately. I've been having a massive writers block, please leave me some nice reviews! Thank you! **


	6. Chapter 6: Will She, Won't She?

…..

"I want you to wear it?" said Draco softly.

"It's beautiful Draco… but, why?" Hermione asked, confused. Her fingers travelled tentatively over the beautiful neck piece he was showing her. It was a collar style necklace shaped like a dragon, the maw opened to display a curling tongue and a flame made of jade, the neck piece was done in net filigree with alternating squares of silver and garnet and the eye of the dragon was a shiny emerald. "It's too much, I can't accept this." Hermione said with a frown, "You know there is no need to try and buy me, Draco. This thing we have…. I'm equally responsible and equally willing; you don't have to convince me with pretty gifts and shiny jewelry." Her back stiffened with injured pride.

"Oh love…" he said with a smirk, "This has nothing to do 'convincing' you, Malfoy's don't beg, princess."

"Then what is it for?"

"You'll see." He said, moving her heavy hair out of the way and clasping both ends of the chain around her neck. He kissed her softly on the delicate skin of her nape, "Trust me; you'll enjoy this little piece of jewelry."

Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "We have to go now Draco, it's time for breakfast."

The blond gave her a wicked smile, "I'll meet you back here in five minutes." Hermione barely had any time to ponder over what that wicked little smile meant because she and Draco had lingered far too long in bed and were now running late, she took a quick shower, brushed out her hair and dressed in school uniform but forewent the robes since it was still warm and summery. She braided her hair into a French twist and tied of the end with a ribbon making a mental note to have it cut since it was getting rather long and even more unmanageable than usual.

While going back down, she lingered for a second stopping at the end of the stairs to just look at Draco, he was folding back the cuffs of his white Hogwarts shirt, his muscular arms flexed and the morning sun highlighted the fine golden hair that covered his capable hands. He had really changed, from the nervous, thin boy with slim almost effeminate hands to the capable, strong man she saw now.

Hermione wondered what the cause of that change was; she didn't know much of what had happened to him after the last war. It was strange, how you could live with a person even before they had been intimate and yet know almost nothing about them; she wanted to ask him so much. What had it been like working with the Order all along and not being able to tell anyone, being perceived as the enemy and being hated?

For Hermione Granger, loyal Gryffindor, best friend of Harry Potter; Draco Malfoy had always been the enemy, when she was younger he had been the mean boy whom she had hated because called her names and made her cry and later in her teen years he had been a loathed nemesis, a rival in terms of her studies and a foe in the deepest sense because he wanted her and her kind, muggleborns out of the magical world she had begun to call home.

But Draco, the real Draco… she knew nothing about him. His likes, his dislikes, his dreams, his aspirations, his fondest memories, his awkward teen years, his crushes. It was the oddest feeling, like she was somewhere in the middle, she knew him and yet it felt like she didn't, almost every day for the past eight years they had passed each other in the hallways, the stairs, the classrooms, the last few months they had worked closely together and yet there was this huge gap, she wished they had gone slower… sat down, talked even for a bit before jumping into this… whatever this was.

She sighed softly, this was wrong… to be feeling like this, she was not supposed to want to know more about him. They were sleeping together, not in a relationship... just fucking. She shuddered delicately at that word, such a cheap, crass word that made her feel sick to the stomach. Unconsciously her hand reach up to caress the necklace he had given her this morning, she wasn't naive enough to believe it was just a gift, it had to be some sort of charm or something. She shook her head, reminding herself that she had gone into this with her eyes open, knowing exactly what kind of relationship he was offering and now was not the time to tip the scales.

She walked the rest of the way down and touched him shoulder.

Draco grinned at the picture Hermione made, she looked so innocent and yet so erotic in her knee length, demure black skirt and completely buttoned up shirt. She really was sweet he thought, he felt pretty bad that the only thing he could offer her was this make-shift relationship sort of thing, she deserved better… for all her braininess Hermione Granger was a hearts, flowers and forever kind of woman and Draco Malfoy was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of man. He wasn't even sure she would want to stay after she found out what exactly he was into. This last weekend he had shown her the basics of sex, all very vanilla but today… today was the day he was going to teach the sweet little Gryffindor princess the darker side of what she so sweetly referred to as love making.

Draco was excited; the collar fit her neck like it was made for her, the dragon's head resting on the delicate pulse point that beat at the base of her throat. Draco had always been attracted to her but as with everything else in his life he had learned to exercise a tight control on his desire and now that he had had a taste of her sweetness he was afraid he was becoming addicted, there was something so beautiful about the first times and about her reactions, with Astoria or Pansy or any other girl for that matter it was predictable and boring but with _her, _Hermione…. Every time they made-love they discovered something new, a new curve to explore, a new sigh to earn, always something special and different about every time they came together.

But he couldn't wait any longer, the itch… the need to have her bound in front of him, squirming, crying out for release; it was getting stronger. His want for her was strange and almost depraved, he was hungry... his silver eyes traveled up her while she was looking away, conjuring up a mental image of her bound in black silk, her creamy white skin; pale... almost ethereal next to the dark black of her binds, her pink lips parted softly, her eyes, beautiful doe eyes... golden with lust, her beautiful dusky rose nipples erect and hard, her body flushed with heat and sweat glistening like pearls on her skin.

Draco pulled her close, pushing her up against the wall he pressed a hard kiss onto her lips, his large hands circling her soft thighs as he held her to him.

"Come straight back after the last lecture of the day." he said on a rough breath, his voice husky in her ear ... he sounded raw and he felt like he was burning. Hermione nodded, her own bright brown eyed glittering.

Today was the day.

….

**Review nice reviews! **


	7. Chapter 7: Can We Be Friends?

….

Hermione was trying to keep the silly smile that threatened to keep resurfacing off her face as she studied the toast and eggs on her plate in the Great Hall.

"Are you just going to sit there with an inane smile on your face all day?"

"I was just thinking about something…" replied Hermione with a grin.

"I'll bet you were." Smirked Ginny, arching her eyebrow.

"Don't ask me something I'm going to have to lie to you about." said Hermione quickly holding up both hands.

"Alright, alright…" said the red-head flashing a wicked smile, "But I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time."

What she wanted to say was, 'I haven't seen you smile like that since before Bill's wedding.' And she was right, even more than Harry, the War had taken its toll on Hermione, her price had been far higher to pay and she was still paying it.

Parents gone… friends dead… life shattered.

During the war Hermione was torn between her love for Ron and her love for Harry, after the war she was tried so hard to be happy with Ron, to be happy as everyone else thought she should have been, there hadn't been much reason for her to smile.

"Are you angry?" she asked Ginny hesitantly.

"Merlin no, I always knew you and Ron couldn't work." Said her friend, "He's my brother and I love him dearly but Hermione you and him weren't meant to be. In the end Ron would never be able to love someone like you or even me for that matter. You mark my words when Ron gets married; if he ever does it's going to be to someone like my mum, the give-up career to have babies, homely kind. That's never going to be you or me. There is nothing wrong with being homely, it's just that different people have different priorities in life." Said Ginny, very matter of fact.

"I do want to have children someday."

"But if you were with Ron he'd want you to stay home, give up your job, your dreams… everything. Can you really see yourself doing that, stagnating in one place? Your mind would rot."

"We're not dating, it's just sex." Whispered Hermione.

"Who decided that?" asked an amused Ginny.

"It was mutual, I suppose."

"You don't sound very sure, Hermione. Come on, one-night stands are not your thing."

"He is attractive and oh, gosh… I don't even know what I did or why I did it! I'm not impulsive!" said the bushy haired witch with a scarlet blush staining her cheeks.

"Is this making you happy right now?" asked Ginny, calmly buttering her toast.

"For now, he told me not to over-analyze it."

"He sounds like a smart man, whoever he is." Ginny smirked.

"You're not going to tell me off?" Hermione said with a wry smile.

"Why? Do I need to? You're an adult, it's not my job to parent you and I most certainly have no right to tell you what is right and what is wrong. Being passive-aggressive is not my style."

Hermione felt a rush of relief and a strange sort of affection for the younger girl, she and Ginny had not been very close until just this year when they came to Hogwarts together. The red-head was by far the most level-headed person she had ever met, Ginny's cool assessment of the situation without her even knowing who it was that Hermione was with, relaxed her.

And the rest of the day passed in a blur of hectic activity, she couldn't ignore the Head work and she had to keep up with all her classes and workload, the fact that they had new teachers made it that much harder to work with, by the end of the day Hermione was exhausted mentally and physically. She just wanted to sit down and rest her feet. She trudged back to her entrance of the Heads Chambers while rubbing her aching shoulders.

Inside the rooms Draco stood anticipating his witch's arrival, he had been painfully aroused all day fortunately the voluminous Hogwarts robes hid his rather prominent erection. His head snapped up when he heard the click of Hermione's entrance, she walked into the shared Common Room through a bookcase in the library… how very fitting, he thought with an amused grin. But that grin didn't last long, when he noticed the strain on her face. For the first time in a very long time Draco felt a twinge of sympathy, he knew that the workload of Head Students was very high and she had been taking on more than her fair share and the exhaustion was showing on her face.

"I can't tonight, Draco." Hermione said, her voice coming out hoarse and slightly shaky, "I'm so tired."

Draco didn't feel like he expected to, he thought he would just feel a crushing sense of disappointment but more than that he felt concern… for Hermione.

"I know I said I don't do the whole talking and getting to know each other jazz but I'm suspending that rule for tonight." He said with a small smile, "How about tonight we just talk?"

"I would really love that, Draco." Hermione said with a soft smile on her face, the blond had moved towards her and relieved her of the burden of her satchel.

"A dinner date?" he suggested, "We can eat up in the tower, like a picnic."

Hermione's tired face lit up "Could we really, because that would be lovely!" she enthused.

"I'll have the house-elves prepare something." Said Draco, "Why don't you meet me up there in half an hour?"

She nodded eagerly and rushed up to her room.

Draco felt light, for the first time in years…. He had become so accustomed to doing things for himself that he had forgotten how much pleasure could be derived by a simple offer to share someone's burden. It wasn't just her job to deal with Head Student duties alone, it was his too but he had other things on his mind and so letting her take on all the work just seemed easier but he could see the toll it was taking on her, to be honest he wanted to kick himself for noticing something like that; usually he could put such things out of his mind but not with her.

Hermione had a terrible habit of skipping meals, over the last few years she had lost a lot of weight because of her stupid habit of forgetting the time or getting too caught up in work to remember to eat. She could feel a wave of dizziness washing over her as she walked up the West Tower which was a part of the Heads Chambers. It was thoughtful of Draco to do this; she mused as she pushed open the door and walked out…

Her soft gasp was totally worth it, he thought with a grin.

"Do you like it?" he said flashing her a little smirk. "I set it up myself." He said with a proud flourish of hand.

"I love it and you're a liar." She said, laughingly narrowing her eyes.

"That was uncalled for." He replied mock hurt, "Come, sit down and eat something."

Hermione stretched out on the gingham blanket that was laid out on the flagstones and felt the balmy air caress her skin as she looked up at the night's sky, "This is nice." She said, taking a sip from a cool goblet of pumpkin juice, "I haven't had time to look at the stars in forever."

"I should apologize for my role in that." Said Draco softly, "I didn't mean for you to take on so much of my workload, it's just that I get really busy sometimes with running Father's companies and dealing with that side of my life that I forget I have responsibilities here as well."

"Why do you call them your father's companies? They belong to you now." She asked, confused.

"I never wanted them to be honest; all I ever wanted to do in my life was become an Auror and even that he took away from me." Said Draco, his voice colored with a shade of bitterness.

"Your father…"

"My father was a coward."

"He was just scared."

"Granger, everyone was scared of Voldemort but that's courage… the ability to stand for what you believe in and to protect those who you love even though you're scared. That's what my father lacked. What do you think? That Potter's parents weren't afraid, that they wouldn't have… if they were weaker switched sides the moment that nutjob asked them to if it meant they could protect their family? But that's the main difference between Lucius and everyone in the Order, that despite there being an easy way out, despite their fear, they stood up for what they believed in. There is never an excuse for leaving your wife and child at the mercy of a genocidal manic, the same way as there is never an excuse to leave a child in an abusive home." Draco said, leaning back with her. His head resting beside hers.

"He's getting punished, Draco… isn't it enough?" she said softly.

"Hermione you're are so unbearably sweet…" he said after a few moments of silence, "After everything I have just told you, do you really believe that there is anything redeemable about my father?"

"I have to hope there is Draco, everyone makes mistakes. The only difference is the scale of those same mistakes."

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" he quoted softly.

"But it is our mistakes that make us who we are Draco, these same mistakes that pave our destiny and help stack the bricks of our future. Your father… I don't know if he will ever regret what he did and what he put you through but do you really think that carrying that bitterness through life is going to help you? If I were you, I'd want to be a better person than my father was." Hermione said, popping a grape into her mouth. "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself"

"What's that from?" he asked her, pushing himself up to look at her.

"The Bible, it's a muggle religious text that I was taught when I was in school." She said, "It was fitting for that conversation."

"I am curious." He said after a bit, "What was it like, out there… in the muggle world?"

"Call the Daily Prophet and Rita Skeeter." Teased Hermione, "Draco Malfoy! Sleeping with a mudblood! Interested in the muggle world! What is this blasphemy!?"

He gave her a playful nudge, "Don't call yourself that… it's another thing I never apologized for, you know. I'd like to do it now, if you'll let me?"

She nodded solemnly.

"I Draco Malfoy, apologize sincerely and fervently to you, Hermione Granger for being a nasty little twat." He said with a small grin.

"I accept your apology kind sir." She said with a gracious bow before bursting into gales of laughter. "It's shocking though, and very surreal… you asking me what it's like in the muggle world."

"I'm curious." He said with a defensive shrug.

"It's amazing, there is science and technology and innovation. I love magic, I do but Merlin there is something so amazing and wonderful to be able to sit down in front of a computer or a television or to just go the cinema and I never really realized how truly amazing all this is until Ron first came to my house." She said with a giggle, "He was shocked out of his wits when I switched the T.V on and the channels kept changing." When she paused and looked up, Draco's face was mask of confusion.

"Moving pictures? Different channels? What like photographs?" he asked her, fascinated.

"No, like… ohhh how do I explain. Well it's like reading a book, except you're watching it, on a screen."

"That's amazing!" he said, his gray eyes growing wide and excited, "And you say that there a number of different photographs on this telebision thing?"

She nodded her head with a grin as she watched him process what she had just told him.

"And what is this computer thing? Is it equally wondrous? Does it have moving pictures? What does it do?" he said, his questions rapid and spoken in a tone full of awe.

"Well there are lots of things you can do, go onto the internet, listen to music, watch movies, write stuff." She told him.

Then for the next two hours Draco proceeded to question Hermione on every aspect of muggle life, each detail more shocking and fascinating than the next for him. Hermione found this endearing, through the evening they both just talked, sharing bits and pieces of each other.

Draco didn't think he could ever find someone's company as pleasing as he found Hermione's.

….

**Important Author's Note: the side couple in this story? Blaise X Ginny, Blaise X Luna? **

**Let me know what you thought of this more adult relationship between Hermione and Ginny and this strange sort of friendship that is forming between Draco and Hermione. Please leave me some nice long reviews because those make me happy :D **


	8. Chapter 8: Two Can Play A Game

…..

Towards the early hours of the morning Hermione fell asleep, her head leaning against Draco's shoulder and her body relaxed on the rug. Draco was still awake, watching the sun rise behind the lake, throwing beams of light and turning the clouds a beautiful violet, unconsciously he covered her bare shoulder with the coat he had let her borrow and shifted her to a more comfortable position as he stared down at her broodingly; he had never willingly volunteered that much information about himself.

She was different, he always knew Granger was clever but he had never gauged exactly how clever; she was perceptive and yet she knew when enough was enough. He had missed talking to an intellectual mind; living in isolation was not all it was cracked up to be. It was early now, they would have classes in a few hours, with a sigh Draco picked Hermione up and carried her down the staircase and into his bedroom, he knew that her room would be locked so he just laid her down on his bed and walked back to the Common Room and sat down silently.

Hermione woke a few hours later to the sound of someone calling her name. She turned groggily and opened her eyes, a blurred blond head and dark robes came into her line of sight.

"It's time to wake up, Granger. We have our first class in a few hours." Said Draco, Hermione was immediately awakened by the tone of his voice. He sounded remote and his voice was formal.

"Where am I?" she whispered, confused.

"In my bedroom, I figured yours would have been locked so I brought you here." He said, still refusing to meet her eyes and his voice the same painfully formal tone.

"Oh alright, I'd better dress then, hadn't I." she said, embarrassed. She quickly slipped out of the room and ran up the stairs to dress, her emotions in a jumble… she was hurt that he would behave this way after yesterday; she had really believed they were making some kind of progress.

She dressed hurriedly and went down the stairs, her heart plummeting with disappointment when she saw he wasn't waiting for her like before. She stiffened her back determinedly and picked up her satchel and went on her way. She skipped breakfast and headed straight for her first class of the day which she was thankfully not sharing with Draco.

He was pushing her away, he didn't deny it. After lunch they had Ancient Runes together and he walked past her without bothering to spare a single glance in her direction. Yesterday had been a shock to his system and he was still recovering from the sudden realization that this was way out of his comfort zone.

Hermione wasn't one to grovel; if he wanted to ignore her he was more than welcome to continue doing so she thought with a huff, slinging her bag over her shoulder with unnecessary violence. He was behaving like a child, she was not oblivious… she knew why he was pushing her away; it was because he hadn't realized how easy it would have been to talk to her especially when they weren't supposed to be 'together' in the conventional sense. The notion seemed ridiculous to her because even if they weren't looking for a relationship they could be friends, he was behaving like an immature child. And fine! If he wanted that kind of a relationship where they just had sex and never talked or anything she could do that! Draco was in for a surprise she thought meanly, two could play his game.

….

Hermione entered the Heads room later in the evening after she was done with all her work, Draco was surprisingly sitting on one of the armchairs and polishing his broomstick. Hermione just gave him a cool smile before breezily saying, "So tonight, your room or mine?"

Hermione cackled inwardly with maliciously glee when he gave her a shocked look.

"Oh, Draco!" she said dramatically, "What did you think, that just because you suspended the rules for one night I might believe something different about our 'relationship' I may be inexperienced but I'm not stupid."

He just glowered at her for a second before putting on his blank-eyed mask again, "I was thinking you should try something new today." He purred, "Something we'll enjoy …immensely." He said intent clear in his eyes.

She shrugged casually, "I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

He was being a hypocrite, he reminded himself as he fumed. She was treating him exactly how he was treating her, with cool indifference, then why the fuck did it piss him off so much!?

Hermione let him simmer for half an hour before coolly waltzing into the Common Room. Before she could open her mouth, Draco got up and whatever she was going to say froze at the tip of her tongue. With his formidable height and considerable muscular prowess he was intimidating, without a word he caught her arm and propelled her towards his room.

"Shut up." He growled when he saw her opening her mouth.

"Now look here, Draco. You can't tell me what to do." She said furiously.

He stopped suddenly and whipped around, pressing her into the wall, "You don't want to try me now, _princess." _He said softly, enunciating each word carefully. His silver eyes glittering with intent.

"Of all the patronizing, rude, sexist things…Muhp!?" she gave an outraged shriek as he calmly covered her mouth with one large hand and continued to pull her along. Hermione struggled, pushing against his chest.

Draco only stopped for a second to cast a silent spell, one of the large portraits in his room opened to reveal a secret tunnel sort of thing leading out of the Heads room.

"Stop it you hellcat!"

"How dare you!?" she said with breathless outrage.

He just bent and kissed her, Hermione struggled until the drugging pleasure of his lips made her body lazy and he fluidly molded her soft curves into his own hard angles. When he finally let her go, she glared at him indignantly, "You can't manhandle me like that Draco, I'm not one of your usual girls who will take anything from you." she said haughtily, "Whatever happens between us will be consensual and not you forcing me into doing something I'm not comfortable with, so stop acting like a brute!"

"Bien-aimée you haven't seen brutality yet." He said with a cruel smile. Something in his eyes stopped Hermione short, the silvery depths were gleaming with silky intent that made her breath stop and start in husky, broken little sounds.

"That was a horrible way to treat me." She whispered breathlessly.

He merely nodded before pressing her into the convex wall of the dark tunnel, his large hand capturing both her wrists together and his other arm winding around her waist. "I apologize." he said roughly, as he gently nudged one firm, muscular leg between her pretty thighs.

"Where are you taking me?" she whimpered, her lips red with his harsh kiss. His eyes narrowed as she swiped her tongue across her suddenly dry lips.

"We're going to play a game." he smirked wickedly.

Hermione felt a shiver run down the length of her body and moisture gather in the folds of her sex because that tone of his voice held promises darker and more seductive than she could have have ever imagined. His own heightened state arousal didn't go unnoticed by her as she fought the urge to arch into his firm body.

"Lead on then, Mr. Malfoy." she whispered, matching his smirk.

"Oh petit ami, you won't be smiling like that when I'm done with you." he growled into her ear, his hot breath causing gooseflesh and little tremors of excitement to run down her body.

"Two can play a game, Draco." she said with more confidence than she felt as she reached up to caress his unsmiling face.

"Sweet thing..." he said with a feral smile, "You have no idea what kind of game this is..."

….

**Leave me lovely reviews :D **


	9. Chapter 9: Satin Ribbons

…..

Hermione let herself be led down the dark, slightly damp pathway by Draco.

"Where are we?" she whispered softly.

He just gave her a wicked smile, "Do you think that only Gryffindor's have their secrets, princess? This pathway is used only by the Slytherin's and only they know about it."

Hermione frowned, she had looked over the Marauders Map millions of times and never found a network of passages like these and she told Draco as much.

"That's because the people who wrote that map weren't in Slytherin, this is one of the best kept secrets of this castle."

"Where does it lead?" she said curiously.

"Into a room that is very similar to the Room of Requirement except that it's underground and only accessible through the Heads rooms."

Hermione wanted to stop him and explore a bit but she seeing the look in his eyes she knew it would be a stupid decision to stop him now. Besides that; a low curl of heat was making its way down her spine.

At the end of the dark hallway a trap door appeared and Draco pulled its tasseled knob open and hefted himself up after which he reached down and lifted Hermione easily into his strong arms.

Before she could speak he laid a finger on her lips, "It's a secret Hermione." He teased, "Nobody else gets to know, yes?"

She nodded, her hungry eyes taking in the endless room that bore a striking resemblance to its better known twin up on the third floor. Today the room had morphed itself into an antique, Regency era boudoir with a massive French Provincial cherry wood bed with black and green muslin and satin curtains, fat candles burned in silver and copper candelabras giving off the musky scent of sandalwood and sage.

"It's beautiful…" she murmured, slipping out of her shoes and feeling the thick Persian rug underfoot, her eyes raised to the beautiful crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling, the fire was a driftwood fire… burning in bright blues and greens and all the paneling of the room was dark wood.

"I have never seen something this beautiful Draco." She whispered breathlessly, "It's truly magnificent."

Silently the blond took her hand and led her towards the bed, "I think it's time I introduced you to exactly what it is that I like." He murmured softly as he pulled back the canopy of the bed, Hermione's eyes followed the elegant movement of his hands her eyes widening when she noticed the green satin binds wrapped around the massive clawed posts of the bed.

She turned towards him uncertainly.

"A relationship like this takes trust." He said softly, looking into her eyes, "We'll take it slow, sweet thing. Slow enough for you to learn to like it. Do you trust me?"

She nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Then I wouldn't squander the precious gift of your consent. This is mutual."

"What are we, what does this make us?" she whispered.

"We're two consenting adults who are exploring an attraction that is not so vanilla." He gently placed a hand on her chest, pushing her back. "I'll stop, any time you tell me to. Pick a safe word, something to tell me it's going too far."

"Scarlet." Hermione said, both excited and anxious, she had expected something like this when Draco had talked about him having unusual needs.

The next thing Draco did surprised Hermione… he kissed her, she had expected him to dive straight into the bondage bit but he just kissed her lazily, his tongue loping around hers softly as he pressed her back into the bed, his hands covering her own wrists. Soon Hermione forgot her own nervousness and anxiety and kissed him back with a sense of familiarity that had been slowly building over the past week or so.

His hands were gentle as they divested her of her blouse and bra but his lips never left her own, her own shy hands came towards his chest, but he removed them as he hiked her legs around his waist and then moved smoothly to tie her wrists with the silky emerald green ribbons, they were gentle and therefore perfect for the first time she was exploring the darker side of her sexuality and yet they were firm enough to keep her still. Hermione felt strangely liberated with her hands tied firmly above her head; to the headboard and her legs spread out and tied in a similar manner to the bedposts.

Draco stopped, "Okay?" he asked her gently. She nodded, her breath quickening with anticipation and her body quivering with excitement.

"I'm going to blindfold you now." He told her, sensing her withdrawal he assured her, "It's not meant to hurt you, it'll enhance the experience, sweet thing." As he carefully tied the black silk swath of fabric around her eyes.

"Draco…" she whispered, "Promise me you'll stop if I ask you to."

"I promise."

He felt her tense body relax slowly onto the soft, watery sheets, "It's just a game, sweet." He whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her collarbone, "I would never hurt you."

Hermione felt his hands and it was almost as if the fact that she couldn't see him aroused her more, her body arched up into his hands… softly complaint, her mouth opened and gave a whimpering moan.

"Touch me, Draco."

"Not so fast, princess." Hermione could hear the change in his voice; it had taken on a honeyed drawl… he was in his element. The soft sound of his padding footsteps moving away from the bed was lazy… almost indolent. His movements were slow and measured; Hermione's body aroused as it already was became high-strung with expectancy

"Draco!" she called out, her voice needy and hoarse, her mind was telling her to get out of this before she got too far in but her body moved to the beat of a different tattoo.

"Hush, sweet thing. Like I said, we're going to play a little game now." He said, his voice dropping a few octaves as he ran a hand over her trembling belly in whisper light movements. 'So responsive…" he murmured, feeling her body shake under his skillful touch. "Would you like me to kiss you, sweet thing?" he asked lazily, "Press my lips against you sugary skin and taste you?"

"Yes…" she moaned. "Please Draco…"

Hermione heard the rustling of clothes as he approached her.

Draco covered her ruby red mouth with his own, slipping her little kisses that grew hotter, he sipped from her like she was fine vintage. His mouth moving from her lips to the tempting feast of her white skin.

He kissed down her body, the only sound in the room was Hermione's moans; like whispers of wind in the grass. She arched towards him but was unable to reach due to her firm binds. Draco didn't pause at her waist; he went straight to her aching core and softly lapped at the honey that flowed. Kissing the soft skin of her inner thighs and gently biting when she grew a little too impatient.

Hermione's senses were on high alert, sweat ran down her chest and pooled at her navel as Draco licked down her thighs without giving her the reprieve she so desired. His fingers caressed the back of her knees as he kissed her right calf moving towards her feet. He gently tickled the soles of her feet, making her moan in abandoned, he suckled on her tiny little toes before crawling up to kiss the soft concave skin of her belly.

"Draco…" she cried, "I… can't… bare… it!"

He languidly pressed a kiss to the underside of her breast before he bit her nipple and blew softly on the puckered pink flesh, his hand palming the other one. His fainéant attention was making her cry in frustration, each emotion enhanced by the lack of vision.

"Tell me what you want, sweet?" he drawled.

"I want you…" she said softly.

"You want me what?"

"I want you…" she blushed.

"Say the words…" he breathed, his low voice caressing the soft shell of her ear.

"I want you to fuck me…" she said softly, her voice colored with embarrassment.

Draco groaned, "You have no idea…" he whispered wickedly, "How much pleasure I gain by corrupting you."

Hermione arched towards him, as he captured her lips with his own and pressed down. They both gasped simultaneously at the blind pleasure of having each other. Draco untied her hands so that Hermione could hold him; she clung to his muscular shoulders as he entered her soft depth.

Draco moved with an urgency that shocked him and Hermione moved with him, their bodies rising and falling to the rhythm of their moans.

"Harder…" she moaned, "Draco, please." She could feel the edge of ecstasy so close that she urged him to on with her body. Together they clung to each other as they moved towards a high that encompassed everything else.

She cried out first, her body wracked with tremors so deep that she had a hard time stopping her movements and he followed her, crying out as his body was taken by a storm of pure pleasure.

….

_**a/n:-**__** How was that for my first BDSM smut? Also I wanted to take it slower, because I find it really ridiculous when writers just go in for the hardcore whips and chains are stuff without Hermione being used to it. I want this to go slow so that she gets used to the trusting and the lifestyle before like jumping straight in. **_

_**right leave me long and nice reviews :D **_


	10. Chapter 10: A Helpful Push

….

Draco wasn't shocked by Hermione's reaction to their little game the night before. She did what he expected her to … she ran. It didn't sadden or disappoint him; it was a common enough reaction. To experience pleasure so intense with what one usually associates with taboo or disgust. She simply needed time.

Hermione needed time to think, to analyze. The night before had been a shock to her system, she had learned things … more so about herself than about Draco that shocked her, things that she needed to work through. Even if sexual, a bondage, domination- submission relationship demanded a lot of respect for the act as well as between the partners, along with respect it also demand a lot of trust in the partner. While Draco had been incredible, she knew that this was just the tip of the iceberg, a tip which she had undoubtedly enjoyed but she nonetheless felt that a bit of introspection would not be amiss before she decided to delve deeper into the beautiful but dangerous world that Draco had shown her.

The most pressing issue that kept nagging her was the fact that Draco assumed she would have been comfortable in the role of a submissive, there were a lot of adjectives she could have used to describe herself but submissive was not one of them, he hadn't done it in a degrading manner but Hermione was an assertive person, taking charge was part of disposition granted she had felt a certain degree of liberation in their love-play but how did the submissive-dominant relation translate into her non-sexual life?

She needed answers to these questions and she needed to talk to someone who wasn't Draco, someone who could objectively look at it from both sides and so she decided to go and visit Ginny in the Gryffindor common room. Hurriedly she left her room where she had been hiding out since after leaving the Room; as she was now referring to it, early in the morning. Thankfully, seventh years were given most days off for self-study and up in her room she had managed to get most of her work out of the way, with stealth that would put any spy to shame Hermione sneaked out of the Head's Rooms and hurried towards the Gryffindor dorms, the weather was beginning to get a little chilly as October edged out September and the leaves on the trees were turning from a lovely green to a beautiful rusty- golden on the tall trees surrounding the castle.

Hogwarts was slowly starting to resemble itself again after the devastation of last year; it was poetic in a sense… Hermione felt as if it was therapeutic, as the castle began to get back on its feet so would she.

Hermione was let into the Common Room by a kindly third year who looked at her with hero-worship in her eyes and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the red-head seated near the fireplace with a tome of Transcending Transfigurations on her lap, her expression one of extreme boredom and just plain disgust.

"I don't know why I took this subject." She said with a sigh of annoyance when she spotted Hermione.

"You still have time to drop it, you know. Doesn't make sense doing something you hate." Hermione replied, sinking into the chair beside hers with a weary sigh.

"What's the matter?" said her friend, "You look wiped out."

"I'm having a crisis." Replied Hermione. "That's why I came to talk to you."

"Is it something to do with your mystery man?" said the perceptive red-head.

"He's part of it, not the main reason though… nope, that's all me!" she said with a bitter laugh.

"What's the problem?" said Ginny gently.

"Let's say we call him Fergus, shall we." Said Hermione, "So I've been with Fergus for about two weeks now until yesterday when he said that the sex we were having was much to 'vanilla', so he introduced me to something more to his tastes and I didn't find it…. distasteful." She blurted out in one go.

"And now you're having second thoughts?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"About?" probed Ginny.

"The dynamics of this relationship, how do things like these work, what does it make me… submissive?! What's going to happen in real life, I interact with Fergus every day!" Hermione said anxiously

"What you like in bed isn't the person you are, Hermione." Said Ginny calmly.

"I sound a bit like an idiot, don't I?" said the curly-haired with laughing self-consciously.

"Not really, it's new and strange and you haven't had much experience with boys other than kissing my brother. To be honest I don't blame you for freaking out about this, sex isn't something new to me and I would be having second thoughts about this too. Does it make you happy though?"

"It is strangely liberating." Said Hermione, "Maybe not the sexual act itself but the placing of trust in another person, the fact that he could hurt me… very badly but he doesn't."

"Do you like him?" said the red-head curiously.

"It's like… we've known each other for years and yet we haven't. It's strange because it is not new territory."

"I thought you were going to talk to him?" said Ginny dryly, lifting an eyebrow.

"I did in fact but later on he got really bitter and that's actually what led to this whole episode that I've explained to you. He gets furious like it's a sin that I've dared to broached a certain subject or tried to get to know more about him and he'll very coldly tell me that we have an arrangement and this is breach of said arrangement." Sighed Hermione, "This was stupid of me, I should have had my first time with some gentle, staid man who doesn't demand so much."

"That is a lie!" said Ginny with a grin, "You are so enjoying this."

"Okay, maybe just a bit." Replied Hermione with a cheeky little smile.

"Hermione Granger, naughty and kinky… who would've thought it." Ginny said with a saucy wink.

"Lies." Hermione grinned, "I am not kinky well not that kinky." She amended "If I was kinky I would have demanded that next time we do something like this he switch places with me."

"That's actually not a bad idea…" said Ginny wickedly.

…..

_Again dynamics of these kinds of relationships are very important, there is a difference between healthy Dom-Sub relationships and unhealthy ones. Leave me reviews talking about this and also guys remember I write for your enjoyment, I don't get paid for these works and the least you could do is tell me if you like something or not :) not a demand, just a request. _


	11. Chapter 11: Bolder

….

"I was waiting for you." came a soft voice from behind her. Hermione stopped dead and winced, she had been hoping to sneak back into her room before Draco noticed her absence.

"What's the matter princess?" he taunted, "Scared you, did I?"

Hermione's back stiffened with injured pride and she replied coolly, "What gave you that impression?"

"Oh just you scampering like a scared little kitten back to the Gryffindor towers." He said with a smirk, "What's the matter, lioness?" he taunted, "A little too much for the sheltered little Gryffindor princess?"

Hermione marched right up to him, her amber eyes glittering furiously, "I. Am. Not. Scared. Of. You." she enunciated softly before grabbing a handful of his robes and pulling him down into a furious kiss.

He pulled back gently, "Then why did you run last night?"

Hermione avoided looking into his intuitive silver eyes.

"Did I hurt you?" he insisted

"No…" she whispered, "No, I was just nervous." She said clearing her throat anxiously, "That wasn't something… I umm… thought I would like."

"It was never about pain, Hermione. Though pain to a certain degree can give pleasure, I am not cruel. If you ever tell me to stop or say no I would do It." he said gently, curling a lock of her stray hair around his finger and tugging. "I could teach you, if you let me."

"How?" she breathed out.

Draco stepped closer until his breath brushed over her forehead, "But first you have to say yes." He insisted.

"Yes…"

But he didn't touch her yet, he simply began to unbutton her shirt, his swift fingers carefully avoiding her skin and from her shirt he carried down to her skirt unbuckling it and pulling it down her thighs.

"We'll keep your stockings on I think." He murmured, before he untied the flimsy strings that held her panty's together. Hermione found herself looking at Draco… really looking at him, before this whenever they had made love it was always in a frenzy but he was making a conscious effort to be slow and so she had time to take in the delicious picture of beautiful male in front of her, his silver-blond head was bent as he worked on removing her Mary-Jane's, his own shirt sleeves were rolled up to display his muscular arms that were dusted with fine golden hair.

"Where is your Dark Mark?" she said suddenly, her hand reaching automatically for his arm.

He recoiled rapidly, "It's Glamoured." He said shortly, the chilly tone of his voice indicating that the topic was not up for discussion.

"Oh, I just thought…" she began hesitantly.

"You don't know shit, Granger." He said sharply, "Let it go."

Hermione tried her best not to look wounded but he must have noticed because with a sigh he got up and said, "I'm sorry, Hermione. It's just that that subject hits a rather raw nerve, it'll take me sometime before I can bear to look at it."

"Is that why, you need such control? Because you lost your hold on things when Voldemort had you." she questioned softly.

"There are things within me that will be unleased, that could consume me, if I ever lost control." He said quietly.

"What a very lonely thing to say, Draco." She mused softly.

He shrugged before bending and slipping her shoe of her foot, "War has different effects on different people."

"So it does."

"Pray tell me, what effect did it have on you?" he whispered curiously.

"I may tell you sometime later, maybe when I'm not almost naked." She said, slightly mocking.

"Touché, Miss Granger." He smirked, before he continued to strip her. He couldn't resist placing a teasing kiss on her leg before helping her shrug out of her shirt and bra.

"What are we going to being doing, Mr. Malfoy?" she whispered teasingly, leaning in and letting her breath tickle the sensitive skin of his neck.

"You won't be doing much, Miss Granger…" he whispered back with a wicked smile, his hand caressing her silky hose clad leg, "Oh no peu d'amour, we're going to be playing…" his husky voice dropped an octave.

"Playing what, Mr. Malfoy?" she murmured, running a single finger up his chest.

"I think I should spank you for being a naughty-naughty girl, Miss Granger."

….

_**I'm sorry for the short chapter, I had planned to make it rather long but unfortunately I have fallen ill, it's flu season here in India, anyway I'll try to write a longer chapter next time as a treat :D leave me lots of lovely reviews and I'll be seeing you guys soon. Also had PM asking me to translate some of my stories, anyone interested in doing When The Butterflies Fly Home in either French or Spanish or some other language can contact me via Private Message! **_


	12. Chapter 12: The Fantasy

….

Ginny Weasley caught sight of the lounging wizard who lay in wait for her before he had spotted her.

"Zabini." She said coldly.

"She-Weasel!" he said with a faux delighted grin and a mocking bow, "I have come to grace you with my wonderful company."

"Oh gracious sire." She exclaimed mockingly, "How wonderful of you to grace this poor wench with your presence."

The dark-haired wizard gave a slightly exaggerated pout at her sarcasm.

"What do you want, Zabini?" she said arching a single perfectly plucked eyebrow whilst studying her nails with a bored expression on her face.

"You're friends with Granger, aren't you?"

"And what business is it of yours if I am?" she replied giving him a disdainful glare.

"I need to know if she's the one Malfoy is sleeping with." He replied in a rush.

"Well that escalated quickly." She said with a look of profound shock on her face "And that is none of your business, you prying, nosy busybody! Don't you have something better to do than spy on your friend?" Ginny glared, bristling with temper.

"Come on Weasley!" he whined, "I have a hundred galleons on Granger."

"Of all the sick, despicable things…" whispered the red head with an outraged huff.

"Look I'll even give you a cut, fifty galleons! I swear on my honor as a wizard!"

"You have no honor Zabini!" she spat, "What kind of a person makes wager like that!?"

Noticing that he was opening his mouth to explain, Ginny held up a hand before glaring at him, "Don't bother explaining and no I don't know who Malfoy is sleeping with and even if it were Hermione I wouldn't tell you!"

"But why!?" cried Blaise as Ginny turned her back and walked swiftly away from him.

"You need help, Zabini!" called Ginny without turning back, "Serious help."

"I'd let you help me." He called, his voice saturated in suggestiveness.

"Not in a million years, Zabini… not in a million years…"

….

"But…" Draco breathed, "Before we proceed into today's game, you need to be educated a bit."

"Tease…" Hermione said with a pout.

Draco just smirked, "While you do look delectable like that." He said gesturing towards her attire of just stockings, "I think a few changes will be necessary." With a simple tap on the silver choker he had given her it slid down her belly and formed manacles around her wrists, next he took out a length of fluid silver fabric and wrapped it around her eyes, blindfolding her. "I want to take you to the Room now." He said, "But you have to trust me, are you willing to follow me with your eyes covered and your hands in chains?"

Hermione took a deep breath before nodding; this was it she thought… she was giving him total control of their lovemaking, trusting him to keep her safe and not to abuse the power she had entrusted him with.

Draco kept his arm around her as he led her towards the Room, carefully guiding her through the dark tunnels towards the trapdoor, his touch her guiding light in the darkness.

"What do you mean by an education?" whispered Hermione curiously.

But she got no reply in return until Draco finally removed her blindfold, his body language had changed Hermione noted, it was so subtle though… the stiffness was gone from his posture instead a honeyed indolence had permeated his expression and his movements, he gave her a languorous smile before flicking the silky silver cloth over her breasts.

"The first rule of the game, sweet thing … is that here, in this room, I am not Draco, not your friend, not your equal… I am your lover and you will address me appropriately." He drawled slowly.

"Do you want me to call you master or something?" whispered Hermione.

"I don't care what you call me, I'd rather you didn't speak at all but here you are not Hermione Granger and I am not Draco Malfoy, just remember that." He tipped her face up, lifting an eyebrow as if to question if she understood or not, Hermione merely nodded.

"The second rule of the game." He continued, "When I say something whilst we play you do it… no questions asked and when I enter the room you drop down on your knees with your head bowed, your legs apart and your hands forward. You don't look at me, you don't talk to me and you stay silent until I call for you, clear?"

She nodded again, "The third and final rule of this game is that nothing that happens in this room must effect our relationship outside." He finished.

"So what are we going to be doing now…sir?" she whispered softly.

"Hush pet, I can see you squirming." He said with a wicked smile, "I think anticipation is the key to pleasure. I could leave you now, tied up… waiting for me to return, locking a little fantasy in your head to enjoy until I return." He mused, "That would be wicked of me, wouldn't it kitten?"

"You'd leave me here … all alone?" she cried.

"Oh I'd leave you some wonderful company, sweet." He said with a roguish grin on his rugged face.

"You can't do that Draco!" She exclaimed.

"Don't forget who's rules we play this game by, pet." He growled, pinching her bottom. He swiftly covered her eyes again and manacles moved from around her wrist, they slid onto one of the ornate posts of the bed and then wound tightly around her arms again until she was forced to sink down onto her knees.

"Please don't Draco." She pleaded, prettily but he just ignored her, tapping the side of her head a muttering an unknown spell.

Hermione heard Draco's footsteps retreating and she wanted to cry out but something stopped her.

"You'll have fun pet." Was his parting remark, one that Hermione didn't understand until unbidden images began to enter her mind.

The spell Draco had used was a modified version of a fantasy spell, the most popular ones were sold in the Weasley's Joke Shop and he had found a perfect one to manipulate for Hermione.

With her eyes shut Hermione could almost imagine she was in the fantasy while she was wide awake, her body lit up with arousal when she saw firsthand just what it was that Draco had picked out for her.

_The room was dark and it smelled like burning Birchwood and lemons, Hermione could barely make out the outline of the bed in the center of the room until she heard the struggle and the rattle of chains from the bed. _

"_Is anyone here!? Master, is that you?" came a soft, feminine voice, "Stop teasing me so, master! I've been waiting for so long…" she moaned longingly._

_As Hermione stepped closer the candles in the room it up themselves, displaying the owner of the sweet girl was beautiful with long shiny ebony black hair that cascaded in a shock of curls, her skin was warm olive flushed with arousal as she struggled with a binds; she had on just a silky hose and some barely there knickers that clung to her mound… a testament to her arousal. Her body arched continually off the bed as if trying to abate her arousal with empty air. _

"_Hello? Whoever is there, could you help me please?" she said in a sweetly persuasive tone, "My master left me here all alone and…" her breath caught, "I am so aroused." She opened her legs as far as the chains would let her, sweetly beckoning, her tongue came out to bathe her wine red lips. Hermione moved, inexplicable drawn to the girl. Her hands itching to touch her silky skin and feel it's satiny smoothness. _

"_Hello…" she said, testing her voice. _

"_Did your master leave you here too?" said the girl dolefully, "I've been waiting forever." _

"_He did…" said Hermione, "One moment he said he was going to show me what punishment naughty girl's get and then he just left." She replied, her voice plaintive. _

"_Maybe we could help each other." Said the beautiful ebony haired girl, "My name is Sage, won't you untie me, please?"_

_Hermione quickly got rid of the blindfold around Sage's eyes and then worked on removing the silky ropes that tied her hands, unfortunately the chains that bound her legs could not be undone. _

_When Hermione looked at Sage for the first time properly, she gasped at the other girl's beauty… wide evenly spaced light green eyes, sinuous like a cat's, high cheekbones and a sensually slumberous mouth that pouted gently. Her eyes drooped in a manner so seductive that Hermione was instantly pulled into her spell. _

"_I think I should thank you for helping me so nicely." Whispered the other girl, leaning in and placing a kiss on Hermione's mouth; she tasted sweet and spicy and her lips melded with Hermione's perfectly. So she kissed back, her hands sliding up Sage's back unconsciously. Hermione felt her arousal grow and her stocking clad legs itched to move closer to the mysterious, lovely girl in front of her. Whilst they were moving closer to each other Sage's hands slid down Hermione's torso, barely skimming over her breasts and her belly before coming to rest over her thighs, light as a butterfly's wing. _

"_I think Master is coming." Breathed the raven haired girl into Hermione's ear, "He's going to be furious, oh I do love it when he's furious!" she said with a deliciously wicked whisper, "I hope he spanks me hard…" _

"So I take it you enjoyed that, pet?" smirked Draco removing the blindfold from over Hermione's eyes.

"It's cruel to tease this way, _master." _She said on a soft pant.

"Oh I think I'm done teasing for today." He said with a slow growl.

"Are you going to spank me hard?" she whispered.

"I might afterwards." He breathed harshly into her ear as he lifted her, her binds falling away without protest, Hermione wound her legs around his waist as he dropped her onto the bed, "After what, sir." She asked sweetly.

"After I take you hard enough to make you remember for the rest of your life." He snarled.

….

**a/n**_**:- still pretty will but what can ya do, anyway leave me nice, long reviews, loves :D**_


	13. Chapter 13: Sinful

…..

_Hermione felt sinful… luxuriously, gloriously sinful. She was semi-conscious, an ephemeral glimpse into the far beyond, her body whipping and thrashing around in the midst of a torrential sea of currents and skeins of such evocative nature that they imbued her soul with wild pleasure, how very hedonistic she would chide herself later with a secret smile, her body floating in languor, her mind restful. _

Draco's large hands spanned her back as he held her to him, her head slumped over his shoulder and her legs wound bruisingly tight around his torso, her own hands held onto his biceps as he pressed her closer and closer to himself, they rose and fell together trying to grasp as much of each other as they could, she cried… her body pulsing, her senses steeped with his scent, pervading her soul leaving it drenched in vivacious, lustrous shades of desire.

"More." She whispered into his ear, biting down on his firm flesh and soothing it with her tongue, lapping up the taste of his sweat-dampened, musky body that smelled like petrichor; the first rain after a long dry season.

"Sweet, sweet girl." He groaned under his breath, his arms tightening around her soft skin. They moved against each other. Faster and faster.

….

"That wasn't a very nice thing you did…" she whispered into his arm, covertly breathing him in.

"Which bit, leaving you alone or not letting you play with character in that little fantasy."

"Both, she was rather attractive." Said Hermione with a mischievous grin, "Beautiful long hair." She said wickedly swinging a leg around him, she was dressed in a diaphanous grown of pale gold that did nothing to hide her breasts, "Green eyes." she whispered, leaning closer to him, "And a voice of scandal." Her bent head hid them both behind a curtain of her silky hair as she pressed her lips onto his, a sense of ebullience filled her body, the euphoria of experiencing the beauty of lovemaking first hand.

"I believe you made me a promise." She said, cocking her head like a curious little bird an impish smile on her face.

"And what would that be?" he murmured.

"That after teasing me so much, you were going to spank me." She said with a pout.

Draco's hands circled her waist, as he brought her down till she was sprawled across his chest, "You do look rather naughty in that dress or I could punish you by not doing what you want me to do." Hermione felt her body clench at his voice which had dropped an octave as it always did when he was aroused.

"That's mean Draco, I want to try it." she said.

"It'll hurt, _petite fleur_."

"I'm sure it will but I want to try it." She said determinedly

"Alright." He conceded, "But not yet, rest a bit before we play." He said tucking her into his side.

"Can I ask you something?" she said, her voice muffled by his arm.

"Anything."

"What has been your most mysterious sexual experience?" she said, her eyes sparkling.

"It wasn't all that lascivious." He chided her gently, "It was in France when I was about fifteen, she was street performer dressed like a _poupée _, a poppet. I didn't know her name or where she came from except she was beautiful, a muggle dressed in this old ballerina's costume with the softest silk, with ragged shoes and patchwork stockings. She just looked at me and I couldn't move. Later on she took me some place I couldn't even remember and we made love to the sound of violins playing on the street below."

"You could've contracted a STI." She said dourly, "You shouldn't sleep with people off the street even if they are beautiful doll ladies."

Draco nudged her playfully, "Thank you for ruining that."

"_Merci_ ." she replied graciously before giving him a little push.

"You shouldn't do that." He warned.

"Why?" she said, pushing him down further, her impish smile in place.

"Because." He tangled his legs with hers and flipped her over, his torso pressing down over her, her legs wound around his own and her arms captured in his grasp, "I'll always win." He said to the sound of her breathless laughter.

Hermione looked up to see his eyes darken with arousal and his body swell above her, "That was a naughty thing you did." He growled.

"It was." She whispered.

He pulled her up until her body was cradled in his lap, "I could flip you over now."

"You could." She panted, "You should."

….

_**I'm sorry for being AWOL but I have exams going on right now and I have banned myself from the laptop but Autumn is here! And I was feeling like writing so I wrote this bit! Hope you like it, please leave a review if you do! They do mean a lot and I read them all! **_


	14. Chapter 14: Naked

….

Pain and pleasure were said to be two sides of the same coin but so were fear and desire. More than anything Hermione wanted to feel safe with the one person whom she shared her most intimate self. She could be accused of over-thinking but that was Hermione Granger, she was used to weighing the pros and cons of each situation before letting herself get pulled along, it was rare for her let herself be guided by anything but her own instincts, lovers they may have been but he had done very little to earn her trust so she was reluctant to delve too deep into his world before having done her proper research.

"I won't hurt you…much." He explained, "I understand this is new and strange but if you let me guide you through it. Just trust me a bit, you'll enjoy it. I need you to understand that the pleasure is not mine alone but yours as well, together it's ours."

She bit her lip before holding both her wrists out to be bound by the length of silken ribbon he held. He gave her his beautifully rare half smile before brushing a thumb over her cheek and bending to kiss her, his own sculptured face flushed with the pleasure of her acceptance.

"I thought Dom's were supposed to be all stoic and sexy." She murmured when he drew away.

"The women I have been with before already knew the routine, sweet but with you it's a learning experience for me as well. One forgets, in our world if you've been involved too long, how to be gentle, I don't believe being careful or gentle is a weakness or makes me less likely or interested in having fun. It is very easy for the lines between roughness and rape to blur. And I am incredibly sexy, I'll have you know." He huffed.

"I agree, and quite incredible as well." She said, raising one loosely tied hand to stroke his cheek.

"No woman likes to be treated like a commodity or sexual plaything without a voice or opinion." He said solemnly.

"You had an experience?" she said perceptively.

"I had a friend, a girl I knew who was raped within an inch of her life when she refused to do something her partner wanted." He said softly, a far off look in his eyes.

Hermione slipped the tie off her hands and looked up at him, "Not right now?" she said.

"Not right now." He agreed.

"What happened to her?"

"Committed suicide, she couldn't deal with it she felt as if it was her fault getting involved with our community, that she was asking for It." he swallowed painfully, "But you know that's not actually true, most people involved in S&amp;M are usually the most careful with regards to consent and making their partners feel comfortable. I felt like a freak myself when I was introduced to it and I liked it."

"It's a sexual expression, Draco… it doesn't define you and I can understand what your attraction was, someone who has rarely had any control in his life wanting to seek someplace where control over his own life would not just be celebrated but glorified." Said Hermione laying an arm on his back. "You couldn't talk to anyone about what you were doing; no friends, no family and not even we the people who you worked for in the Order knew anything about what you were doing, pulled from one side towards your family and from the other towards doing the right thing … caught in the ugly middle where most people would break apart but you held together didn't you? Of course you were attracted to this lifestyle, finally grasping control over your life… at least one aspect of your life, no one could tell you what to do with your lovers, could they. They gave you the power to either hurt them or pleasure them, you could have done either and yet here you stand in front of me telling me that being safe and careful is not a weakness, you could have hurt me… I gave you the power to hurt me but you didn't. That shows me just how incredible a person you are."

"Making the decision to spy on Voldemort wasn't that hard." He said sheepishly, turning away from her.

"I doubt it." she replied solemnly, "When I remember how hard it was for us, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it was for you. Having to kill not just people from our side but from your own as well just to keep up appearances, when it was over Harry locked himself up in a room and drank all day long you know. I did too." She admitted, shame coloring her voice, "I couldn't bear to think about it, every time I woke up I could see their faces in front of mine, screaming at me, screaming at Harry. All I could think about was those dead eyes accusing me of killing them."

"I know I didn't kill them." She said, when she saw him about to protest, "Technically… but me, Ron and Harry were responsible for their deaths, we should have fought Him alone. There shouldn't have been a battle of Hogwarts; we could have ended it just between us."

"Is that why you have nightmares, because you feel responsible?" he questioned.

"How do you know about that?"

"I've seen you take the sleeping potion when you thought I wasn't looking, I've seen the bottles of Fire Whiskey that the house elf who cleans your room hides. I know you don't get any letters from your parents, I also know what you did to protect them." He said, "What you did, that takes real courage. It was never your war, it was Potter's and he never had much to lose, not as much as you did anyway. I never had that kind of courage; I don't think I ever could."

"The world is made up of different kinds of courage, Draco. You can never gauge the true courage of a person unless you have been in their shoes. Maybe in your place I could have done something differently and maybe in mine so could you but the truth is that we all must live with the consequences of our decisions, I must live with the fact that people… good people, innocent people, people who deserved to live died because of me, Harry has to live with that as well and so does Ron, as for you you've had to live with the burden of never being trusted by your father again because of what you did."

"He was a terrible man, but he had his good days, Hermione. I didn't want him to die; I wanted to talk to him properly one last time before, does that make me a terrible person? I don't even know. It's hard to understand, I know but everyone knew him as the 'death eater' but to me he was my Dad, the person I had shared my good and bad days, the same dad who had taken care of me when I was sick and played with me, he was the same man who had protected me from Bellatrix and taken the blame from my mistakes." His voice caught.

"So why didn't you try to talk to him before he was killed?" she asked gently.

"He wouldn't see me, it wasn't that I had betrayed Voldemort, he felt as if he had put me through so much that I wouldn't ever look at him as my Dad again and he was right, when Voldemort recruited me." He said stroking him Dark Mark's shadow absently, "I hated him; I blamed him because I was scared. He was my Dad who was supposed to protect me! I was barely sixteen when I got the Mark! I couldn't kill people, not the way Bellatrix could or the way I had seen my father do it. He always told me to be a better man than he ever was but how was I supposed to do that with a Dark Mark, how was I supposed to remove the taint of shame that followed me everywhere? How was I to make it possible for my children to not feel the same shame I felt for the Malfoy name? When I came to Hogwarts people feared me because of my name, I respected Potter because he didn't care about my name. I didn't have friends; I had people whose parents had told them to get close to me because my father had money and influence." He said bitterly, "So I hid behind the same name that people feared so much, I made it my shield but he wouldn't see me… he wouldn't see me or tell me if I had become a better man than him!? Didn't he want to hear what I had to say to him one last time, that I loved him despite whatever happened, didn't he care!?" he said angrily and a little desperately.

Hermione just let him talk; feeling like maybe a little crack in his walls wouldn't be so bad after all.

….

**I'd love to hear what you all have to say about this chapter :D I hope you enjoyed this little peek into Draco and to follow up on a war story you might like to read ****With Love from Me to You**** by me, you'll enjoy it after this, it's a one-shot. **


	15. Chapter 15: Spectrum

They were holding hands, thought Ginny with a secret slightly relieved smile, even though they thought no one could see they were holding hands.

Ginny had come in late for a Prefect meeting when she spotted them, Draco and Hermione sat at the head of the table being Head Boy and Girl, they were sharing a loveseat and under the desk his much larger hand was covering hers.

All the prefects and Draco and Hermione were making plans for a Christmas plus charity ball for Hogwarts, and even though it was just the beginning of October there were many plans to be made before school broke for the winter holiday. Ginny entered the room behaving all flustered, hoping that her act had fooled them into thinking she hadn't seen them holding hands yet they sprang apart with little guilty smiles and flushed faces, avoiding eye contact with each other.

"Shall we continue then." Said Hermione clearing her throat and turning towards the fifth year Hufflepuff girl who was asking her something.

Ginny watched as Malfoy's eyes automatically shifted focus onto her, his whole demeanor was strange and curiously protective, his eyes careful to not get caught and yet unable to pull away.

"Here let me help." She heard his whisper to Hermione who was struggling with a stack of parchment and it was almost like a moment caught in time, just a second when Ginny noticed her friend's dark, tumultuous eyes light up gently and her lips pull into an unconscious half smile and Malfoy, who was usually so stoic relax into a gentle almost careful smile of his own… tentative yet tender his hand brushed over Hermione's as he held out the remaining papers to her.

She had seen that look before, or something akin to it… between her parents. That closely held, carefully guarded look of almost infinite tenderness, of such painfully stark feeling that Ginny's breath caught in her chest. How could a single second convey such beauty, so dulcet and eloquent yet so ephemeral? She felt like a stranger intruding upon a most private moment in time.

How long, she wondered had he known he was in love with her? Over the course of Draco and Hermione's timelines a curious imbrication had formed; a pattern if you will of memories and instances of rather hopeless love, the kind that you only find in books that you clutch to your breast at night while being unable to stop tears of sadness and tears borne of sheer beauty, of the wonder of love from coming down and staining you cheeks, so rare and wondrously beautiful that it left a hollow pang in her chest, he loved her like that she felt, in a way that most people are not fortunate enough to experience in their lifetimes. How long had he to endure a feeling like that and what amazed her was the sheer willpower he used to not become jaded or bitter.

To feel moiety, like the one of two equal parts… that must be the saddest thing in the world.

She didn't know or she didn't understand yet but he did… his eyes spoke of sempiternal love, his movements were careful and slow, as if to orient himself to her, his smile was just for her and his demeanor; so harsh and stoic usually softening only when it was for her.

Yes felt Ginny with a slow ache growing in her chest, yes she felt he loved her very much after all. And what a great burden that must have been, she thought sadly.

….

Blaise watched as the beautiful red haired girl sat under the large weeping willow as the last of the autumn sun played games in her tresses, glittering sunny gold or a deep crimson. He squinted into the distance as he watched her read, so very still, a part of a pastiche among the patchy green grass, the rippling lake of calm, dark waters and he felt a fleeting rush of serendipity rush through him.

He was staring unaware that at that exact moment she was to turn and his deep green eyes were to meet her own in a wild clash of colors saturated by her surprise and his awe. A spectrum so blooming and vicious in its sheer intensity that he is ensnared trapped in an impenetrable bubble with _her _that shimmers with luminosity.

And so he turns his gaze drawing away from her own because he sees in those eyes those emotions, the colors that he cannot fathom, depths that his privileged life with its shallow facades has never taken him to, depths swimming with shades of colors so complex that he is afraid he can never quite understand.

And in that moment he knows, that someday he would have her love him; have her swim through those oceans of unfathomable depths with her guiding him.

….

**It makes me sad when you guys don't review :'( so please do :D I really do love to read everything you guys have to say. **


	16. Chapter 16: It's Like Falling Asleep

Hermione rubbed her eyes tiredly while rolling her shoulders to draw out the kinks, it was close to midnight but the library was filled with the soft sound of quills scratching against parchment as bleary eyed 7th years poured over their respective tomes whilst copying down notes or murmuring incantations while practicing wand movements.

Hermione's own subjects were Defense against Dark Arts, Potions, Medical Herbology, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, International Relations, Charms and Transfiguration. She knew that ultimately she would be working with the Minster in the Liaison office therefore the International Studies but before that she had made up her mind to train as Healer, two tables over Draco sat tensed, his head bent over a large, leather bound book where he was balancing accounts.

As 7th years they were being groomed to become responsible citizens who were meant to keep their community rich and thriving. Those who were to be Aurors had already left school after their rudimentary last year education, their testing would further take place in the Ministry training arena itself, she had talked to Harry and promised to go over some of the harder bits of Potions with him during the Winter break when he would be visiting her at Hogwarts. He was under a great deal of pressure as they came towards the end of their training and it was almost time for the final test that would determine whether or not Harry and Ron became Aurors. She knew her friend well, even in his most cheerful letters she could sense an undertone of fear and stress, what they needed to do was have a nice long chat before he blew up like an overheated kettle.

She herself was feeling the stress, immense amounts of course work, tutoring and her duties as Head where all pushing down upon her shoulders like the proverbial earth on Atlas.

"I'm done for the night." Whispered Draco, leaning over towards her, "I've been here since four in the afternoon, I need some dinner and a bit of sleep. You'll be alright?"

She nodded, "I'll stay for a bit longer before rounding all of them and sending them to bed, maybe a few hours more. I need to go over these essays for Herbology and Arithmancy and do a bit of Potions work."

"Give me your Arithmancy essay." He said, "I'll check over it for you, I'm done with all my work for today anyway."

She bit her lip uncertainly, Draco was above even her in Arithmancy, the only subject besides Transfiguration that they both shared, he was a genius with numbers but she'd hate to increase his workload, "You should rest, it won't take me long to read through it." she said with a soft smile.

"It'll take me even less time than you, Granger." He said dryly, "Give it I swear I won't cheat off of you." he said with a cheeky smile.

"As if you need to!" she smacked him on the arm with her book giving him a little grin.

He flicked her ear and gave her his crooked smile before winking and walking off with a nonchalant wave in her direction.

Hermione looked at the spot where he had been for a few seconds, the smell of his cologne lingered around her before dissipating into the cool night's breeze and she got back to work with that small smile still on her face.

….

A few hours in…. Hermione's back ached and her eyes were drooping, likewise most of the other students were either fully asleep or about to drop off atop their tables, inky fingers were covering eyes and tired hands were trying to stretch the cramps out of their muscles, heads drooped and people were trying to make desperate attempts to stay awake and continue their work.

"Alright everybody, time for bed." Hermione's voice came out in a hoarse croak. She winced as she straightened and tried to wake both her legs which had fallen asleep and were now numb.

"I'm so fucking done with this year." Murmured Blaise Zabini whose quill was sticking out of his fist, hopelessly crumpled. "Hey Granger, what's the answer to problem number 21… the correlational coefficients?"

"I don't fucking know, Blaise." She said tiredly, "Ask me tomorrow morning, I don't remember my own last name right now."

"Don't be silly Hermione." Came Luna's dreamy voice, "Your last name is Granger."

Hermione opened her mouth but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Adrian was trying to control his laughter, delirious as he was with exhaustion, Gryffindor's, Slytherin's, Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's seniors were all dawdling about like drunken monkeys; eyes half closed, still muttering incantation under their breaths.

After that people were shaken awake and like a line of tipsy, grumbling Garden Gnomes they all made their way back to their respective dormitories.

"You're going to find most of them passed out in front of their dorms tomorrow morning." said Blaise.

"That's the same state you're going to probably find me in." said Hermione before bumping into a Ravenclaw who seemed to have forgotten his way back to the North Tower.

"That way." Pointed an ever helpful Blaise towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The poor half asleep boy wandered off with a thankful smile in Blaise's direction.

"That was mean." Said Hermione leaning against him, "You shouldn't…." her voice trailed off mid-sentence and her head pitched forward as she fell asleep whilst standing in her place.

"Move Granger." Blaise shoved her half-heartedly, "I don't have enough strength to take you to your room and then make my way back to Slytherin."

"Hmm... five minutes more, mummy." She murmured, "I'll have cereal for breakfast if you don't mind, the chocolaty ones."

Blaise was about to yell at her before a rather wicked idea struck him, "Granger?" he whispered.

"Yes mummy." She replied her head lolling about on his shoulder.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No mummy, I swear Tommy was just teaching me how to kiss! And he wouldn't be my boyfriend anyway." She huffed, half-asleep, "He gave me a five out of ten! As if I could ever get a five out of ten."

"Is Draco your boyfriend?" said Blaise grinning like a Cheshire cat, "I swear if you say yes I'm going to give you 50 galleons."

"Hmm… Draco." She said with a soft smile on her face.

"Well go on then!? Is he or isn't he?"

"I don't know…" she sighed, "He's the most wonderful lover though, such gentle hands, such beautiful things he says and so very…."

"I don't need to know any more." He said crossly, covering her mouth with his hand. "Merlin…" he said with a wicked smirk, "Granger, huh? Who'd have thought it?"

With a little smirk he sent Draco a patronus, telling him to come fetch his girlfriend from the library.

Within ten minutes Draco Malfoy stood glaring at his best friend.

"You're not as intimidating in pajamas." Said Blaise thoughtfully.

"What are you doing?" growled the blond.

"Well she fell asleep and who am I to refuse a willing woman." Came the cheeky reply.

Draco marched over and took Hermione from Blaise, lifting her up into his arms. "Not a word." He warned his friend.

"Aw! I had a bet!" protested Blaise.

But was soon silenced by a look of pure murderous intent on Draco's face, "Fine." He pouted, "I won't say anything."

"A bet." Said Draco shaking his head in disbelief, "You should not be allowed to touch something this pure." He gestured towards Hermione.

"I don't know why I put up with your abuse." Said the dark haired boy dramatically.

"Nobody else can sneak Fire Whiskey into the school, that's why." Said Draco shortly before turning around and beginning to walk back to their dorm.

"For what it's worth." Blaise called out to his retreating form, "I think she's amazing."

"She really is." Whispered Draco to himself as he carried the now fully asleep Hermione back to their rooms.

….

Hermione felt herself being put onto a soft surface and opened her eyes, "Draco?" she said softly.

"Sleep, you're in your room now."

"Stay with me." She said sleepily tugging him down. Gentle hands undid the buckles on her shoes and removed her socks, he lifted her gently and slipped her out of her skirt and jumper; undoing the clasps of her bra and leaving her in just her chemise and panty's.

After that she tugged him closer and he brushed a kiss on her forehead before the bed dipped under his weight and she felt his heavy arm settle around her waist and with a soft sigh she fell back asleep. The last sound she heard was his soft voice telling her to sleep peacefully.

…

_**I just finished with my own exams and I am in my final year so I understand this stress fully, not being able to sleep and staying up all night was a bitch. You guys leave such wonderful reviews that I enjoy reading them all :D I hope you like this chapter, leave lovely reviews :D **_


	17. Chapter 17: Tick-Tock

Draco came awake as always… in a rush before he remembered where he was and felt the soft body clinging to his own in the semi-darkness. He was used to waking up early and so he sat for a few moments just silently, ruminating about the pleasure of simply being held, such a rare and beautiful delight. Hermione's head rested on his chest and her legs tangled with his own as her chest rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm.

Her skin was sleep warmed and smelt like sun soaked berries… tart and sweet. He desperately wanted to kiss her awake but he had seen the dark circles beneath her eyes, so he let her rest and slowly extricated himself from her embrace before padding out of her room.

In his own room he wandered around restlessly for a bit before deciding to make his way to the Room, he didn't know for what reason except that he was feeling caged. Through the portrait hole and into the hallway of darkness his mind wandered and he felt a shift, a sort of uneasiness stole over him unexpectedly.

The reason was apparent the moment he opened the trap-door.

Astoria…

"Good morning." smiled the girl from her casually reclining position on the bed, not bothering to get up.

"What are you doing here?" growled Draco softly.

"Is that any way to greet your fiancé, Malfoy?" she growled back, "Say hello properly and I might tell you why I decided to pay you a visit."

"What the fuck do you want, Astoria?" he said edgily. "It's early and I'm not in the mood to play your games."

"Fine." She huffed, "Be that way, but you're going to have to change that attitude soon, Malfoy. My father has invited you to stay with us in our French estate during the winter."

"I can't." he said shortly, "I'm staying back, I have to work."

"Look Draco, I'm being honest here. You know I don't care who you shag but we are going to be married and it is going to happen after we graduate, is it really worth it? You're going to break her heart." Astoria said with an earnest smile. "And that wasn't an invitation more like a demand."

"She doesn't know yet." He said softly.

"You haven't told her that … we are going to get married?" said Astoria, her voice colored with disbelief.

"No." he said softly, shame and regret very evident.

"Don't… don't do this to her." Said the other girl, "It's painful Draco and I admire Hermione Granger, we all do but this." She pointed to them both, "This thing between us, I know neither of us wanted it and neither of us can do anything about it. We were children, they shouldn't have decided for us but Draco you know what will happen if we don't go through with this marriage."

"I know." He said, frustrated, "Give me some time, and let me talk to her. I can't just…"

"Let me talk to her." Said Astoria, "It'll be easier if she doesn't blame you, she can blame me though. We can do the whole jealous fiancé routine."

"Not yet… I can't do it yet, you have to give me some time." He said desperately.

"You have till the Spring term begins, Draco." Said Astoria sadly, "I can't give you more time, it's not just your fate that rests on this alliance." She said distastefully, "But mine as well. If only father would listen and try to work around this!" she said angrily, "But he isn't willing to listen."

Draco nodded, "It's not your fault 'Tori." He said with a sigh. "It's just the way things are, but how did you get to know anyway?"

"Blaise." She said simply, "He's both happy and worried, he has never seen you so peaceful before but he's worried about Malfoy industries and your mother."

Draco rubbed a hand over his eyes, trying to think of something… anything that could be done about this… situation.

"I'm sorry Draco, I truly am." Said Astoria sadly.

"So am I 'Tori, so am I."

….

_**This was written in a hurry, I wasn't planning to upload today since it's a festival day but I was here and decided to leave you all with this little piece of delight :P What do you think they are talking about? Why can't the marriage contract be broken? How is Hermione going to react? Looking forward to your reactions! **_


	18. Chapter 18: Cold Nights

Hermione couldn't understand what had gone wrong. After a single blissful night spent in Draco's arms he was avoiding her like the plague. Her large, dark eyes misted over as she thought of the careless way he had begun treating her. Whenever they talked Hermione avoided looking at him directly, keeping her voice low and her eyes on his chest, he couldn't know how much this behavior was hurting her. Was it because they were getting too close for comfort? She didn't understand and the fact that she was under educated in relationships like these made her unwilling to confront him.

Draco was going out of his way to avoid Hermione and he could feel the quite reproach in her soft gaze whenever he was anywhere around her. He treated her with a deliberate mix of careless disdain and casual normalcy; as if the sudden change in their relationship was something he was planning all along. Night after night he would lay in his bed trying to think of a decent way to _tell _her but he was failing miserably.

Two weeks went by and before they knew it, November had brought a chill into the air. On the weekend Draco decided to go out with some mates to avoid being in the same room as Hermione who had decided to stay behind on the Hogsmede weekend.

Only after his departure Hermione ventured out of her room and into the warm Common Room where the bright fire was burning merrily. It would begin to snow soon and despite her sadness she hugged herself in silent delight, winter meant spiced pumpkin milk, salted caramel coco, warm fires, the smell of pine in the air, sweet minty breaths of air freezing into frosty icicles and Harry. She was missing him fiercely and her loneliness had given her an air of fragility that Ginny had noticed and commented upon.

"It's nothing." Laughed Hermione, "It's this time of year, it makes me so happy and yet so sad." She sighed.

"You miss your parents." Said the perceptive red-head.

"More than anything in the world." Said Hermione sadly, "I want more than anything to go home."

"You always have us, you know." Said Ginny gently, "Whenever you need."

"I know." She smiled, "And thank you, really thank you but what I wouldn't give to just be that child again and have my father and mother welcome me home, take my coat and let my dad rub my nose and cheeks and tease me about how cold they were or help my mother prepare hot coco to go with our late night movie marathons or to even just hug them again." She whispered brokenly, more to herself anything. "What I wouldn't give…"

No matter, Hermione thought with a sad smile on her face. She would get on with her studies, this year she would help those still paying the heavy cost of war. Maybe volunteer at one of the Orphanages set up for children who lost their parents after the War. If nothing else at least she could do some good rather than moping around. With that reassuring thought she got back to studying, thoughts of Draco kept at bay by her concentration.

Before long she was nodding off to sleep over one of the heavy tomes, she was curled up on the soft carpet with a soft afghan thrown over her legs with nothing but the soft flickering of the fire and rustling of wind outside the windows to keep her company.

When Hermione came awake she could feel the weight of someone's gaze upon her, it was dark outside and dying embers of the fire burned in the grate. She drew the wooly afghan closer, shivering in the darkness. "Lumos." She murmured, going petrified on the floor when Draco's slumped body came into view.

"Damn you." he murmured, almost slurring. He looked worn, his beautiful blond hair disheveled as if he had been running his hands through it all day, his face waxy and tired and his pale eyes slitted in quite contempt.

"What…" she said hesitantly.

"I said damn you." he continued in his soft voice. "Come here Hermione."

"Why Draco?" she said bitterly, "Haven't you been treating me like a stick of furniture all this time? Why the sudden interest?"

He pulled himself up and staggered towards her and she had to fight every impulse that screamed within her to go to him, to let him hold her once again.

"We weren't supposed to be this way." He slurred, "This wasn't what I wanted."

"Well now you have nothing." She said angrily.

"I wanted you to fight for me Hermione." He continued, unfazed. "Merlin I wanted it so much." He sounded like he was in pain, his silver eyes achingly tracing her beautiful face while her own hurt eyes jumped away from his.

"What do you want Draco?" she whispered.

"Isn't it obvious, I want you. I always want you." he sounded angry with his admission. "You're like an obsession with me; all I think about is you."

"Why now?" she whispered, "After all these weeks, why now?"

"Because I'm drunk out of my mind and probably won't remember this in the morning." he said bluntly before reaching for her and tugging her into his embrace.

Hermione's eyes shut, he smelt just like she always remembered; like spice and oriental cologne, he smelt like what she imagined belladonna smelt like; beautiful and alluring and yet dangerous enough to inflict harm upon everything she held dear.

"How could you? How can you?" she said angrily, "Touch me with such right… touch me like you own my skin? Touch me like you're dying without me?" she ended on a strangled whisper.

"Because you are mine, sweet love." He groaned under his breath, "You smell like the stars, Hermione." He pressed her closer and her small hands trembled upon his chest, so afraid to hold on tight and yet fearful to let go.

He pressed her closer, breathing in her softness, his arms contracting around her; pressing her into him.

"Could I have a kiss?" he whispered into her ear.

"Draco you say it like it's the last we're ever going to share."

"It just might be, sweetheart so make it a good one." He said drawing her face towards his, until her mouth was under her own; moving softly.

He tasted like he always did too, she thought in a daze. Like everything spicy and fragrant, like pepper and mint drawing from her very soul.

"I could have loved you." he whispered in the soft, cold darkness. "I could have loved you more than my own life." he said, leaving her puzzled before walking away from her.

….

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	19. Chapter 19: Magic of Never

Astoria was a normal girl; she liked marmalade on her toast and Christmas time, definitely just a normal girl. A normal girl who was brought up in one of the richest families in the Wizarding world. Unfortunately for her, her mother never had the much desired son and her family consisted of just her and her two sisters. And so she knew that her father would sell her off to the highest bidder in order to keep his empire from crumbling after his death. It was a sad fact that she and her two sisters had grown up with.

Ophelia older by five years had married a serious but kind French duke who she had grown to love immensely. The marriage was of convenience and the older girl had struggled to come to terms with it. Her husband had been married once before and had a child from his previous marriage; her sister and her step-child had struggled to form a bond early on. Often times during the first two years of her marriage Ophelia had escaped to her parent's house crying pitifully when their father made her return. But theirs was a rare success story, a fluke of sorts. Astoria had seen her own parent's marriage and her second sister Daphne's marriage, both of which left her cold.

Her parents were icy; they slept in separate bedrooms, hardly ever remained in the same room together, did everything they could to avoid each other. Her mother drank like a fish, spending half her time in the family homes in either Paris or New-York, always with some younger man and her father couldn't care less. All he did was work, from morning to night he remained locked up in his study going over the books or charting sales courses. Her father was an insomniac, a cold man who saw his daughters as a means to end. She had never lacked for anything… materially but warmth and love in her house was hard to come by. Their house was like a mausoleum; cold and silent, a place where the silence actually became deafening.

Daphne had been married last year and Astoria had seen her bright, vivacious, life loving sister turn into a nervous, thin woman whose hands shook and thin face betrayed her fear of her husband. Unlike Pierre, Ophelia's husband Marcus was a dangerous man, charming and witty in company but whose darker nature ruled over him most of the time. He also happened to be one of her father's business partners with a large amount of shares invested in Greengrass Industries. Daphne wasn't allowed to visit often and when she did Astoria was left disturbed by the purplish- yellow bruises on her body. The beautiful blonde girl, the one who used to laugh uncontrollably, smile at the silliest things, make fun of her sisters, share her secrets with them and keep their secrets for them was gone. The same girl who had dreams of becoming a Healer and working towards bettering the community was now a shell of her former self. Astoria was off marriage… for good.

She knew that Draco wouldn't hurt her but she also knew she couldn't love him, not the way he desired so desperately to be loved. She didn't believe herself capable of love, she didn't believe herself capable of anything past shallow feeling and if she did possess the ability to feel as she imagined people felt for those whom they loved she wanted to discover it on her own terms. She had read books, books that talked about love and how it was magic unto itself. She had seen love, she had seen the magic of love... she had seen it when Draco's eyes met Hermione's in the secret gaze that only lovers share, she had seen that same magic when Ophelia looked at Pierre, she had felt that love with Catherine and Heathcliff and Quasimodoand Esmeralda; she had felt it from others, for Nurse Hana and the English Patient but never for herself. So when she cried during a love song it wasn't because it evoked memories, it was because she knew that maybe a love song would never give her the memories she so desired.

At times she felt trivial, whilst comparing her own problems with those who she knew suffered far greater ones. Poor little rich girl, poor little pureblood rich girl, never lacking for anything, never having to face bullying and prejudice, never knowing what happened in the 'real world' outside her kingdom of privilege. That is why she admired Hermione so, until last year it would have been sacrilege to mention this out loud. A pureblood admiring a mudblood … of all the ironies. Astoria despite being brash and colorful was rather shy, the real her was hidden beneath layers and layers of armor she had learned perfect while living with her parents, she wanted to approach Hermione. She wanted to talk to her, to make her understand.

….

"Excuse me Miss. Granger." Came a shy voice from behind an alcove as Hermione was walking towards Potions, "I don't want to hold you back but could you please spare a few moments?"

Hermione turned to see the beautiful honey golden head of Astoria Greengrass peeking out, what did she want? Thought the older girl, half wry and half bitter? Angry? Furious? She couldn't decide, maybe it was a mix of all three.

"Yes." Replied the curly haired witch curtly. Astoria reddened with embarrassment and Hermione immediately felt bad, "You don't have to call me miss anything, Hermione will do." She said gently, trying to ease then discomfort she saw on the younger girl's face, "How can I help you?"

"It's about Draco." She almost whispered and Hermione felt her body stiffen.

"What about him?" she said in a voice devoid of all emotion.

"Could we talk somewhere else?"

Hermione nodded and led the younger witch into one of the abandoned classrooms, one of the many that dotted the castle. "Sit." She nodded, "What's the matter?"

"Won't you get late for your class?" She said worriedly.

"I'm certain I will." She said with a mischievous smile, "But tell me anyway."

"Well you see, we're engaged to be wed…. me and Draco, soon after we both graduate, I think father will wait until Draco finishes with higher studies." She said, watching as Hermione expressive dark eyes widen in betrayal? Pain? Heartache? Astoria didn't know but she was quick to assure the other girl, "I know what you're thinking. That I'm here to warn you off him but I'm not." She said quickly. "You love him?" she said perceptively.

"I don't know what I feel." Whispered the chestnut headed witch, "Not yet anyway, it's much too soon."

"But when it's right, it's right, I suppose." Sighed Astoria with a wistful smile on her face.

"Maybe we've been running in circles around one another for all these years." Laughed Hermione.

"Maybe but you see the thing is that I know Draco won't tell you this. He has far too much pride but I want you to know that if there is an ounce of love in that battered soul of his; it would belong to you. It's the way he looks at you." she said, brushing aside the other witch's denial, "You may not see it but anyone observant enough can. His eyes follow you; like he can't bear to look away for a second otherwise you'll flit away. He looks at you like you're precious. Like you're important, like it would hurt him to not look at you. He looks at you like he want to pull you to him and never let go."

He looks at you the way I wish someone would look at me, she added sadly to herself.

"Why are you telling me this, aren't you to marry him." Said Hermione incredulously.

"That doesn't mean he can love me or I him." She said with a sad smile, "It would have been easier if it had been that way but the contract of our marriage was drawn up when we were young."

"Contracts can be broken." Said Hermione firmly.

"That's exactly what my father feared too. When you have a son especially in our world; still a little archaic, the son inherits the fathers sins and baggage and the daughters are like pretty show pieces that are given as presents." She said bitterly, "So when a Marriage Contract is draw up; most of the cards are in the male's family's hands. They can break it without reason, they can have the clauses changed, you get the gist so by the time my father found out that he had had a third girl child he was adept at balancing the Contracts in a way that couldn't be broken. More than half of Draco's holdings and assets are tied to my father's company. If he doesn't go through with this he loses everything… almost everything. Now imagine a man so intent in making his name mean something, to not have it associated with the past, a man wanting to build an empire, a man with a single goal that has sustained him longer than any bedfellow he has ever had… that he won't let go, no he will do anything in his power to keep whatever he can of his legacy even if it means marrying me and loving you from a distance." she said sadly.

"There has to be some way…" began Hermione.

"You don't know my father Hermione; he is a bad enemy to make. Tell Draco you know; be happy while you can and after that … let him go." Said Astoria.

"What about you? What about your happiness?" said Hermione furiously.

"I will live, I will live on like I always have." Said the other girl with quite dignity. "The world has enough problems without rich little girls whining about their lives."

"Bring me that contract, Astoria." Said Hermione, "Let me help you."

"My father…" she began.

"I have dealt with bigger bullies than he can imagine, don't forget I am Hermione Granger."

….

**Leave me lovely reviews! For sure this is one of my favorite chapter :P **


	20. Chapter 20: Something Unforgivable

…..

Draco was miserable… hungover, tired and it felt like a number of particularly vicious dwarves had taken to bashing in his skull with mallets. He didn't remember much of what happened last evening except he had gotten stinking drunk with Blaise and Theo, everything after that was dark. With his senses unusually dulled he didn't feel the dip in his bed but he was suddenly aware of a comforting presence hovering over him and a cool, small palm resting on his forehead. Hermione's soft sugary breath brushed over his face, cooling his sticky skin.

She laughed softly, "Imagine you… the perfect Mr. Malfoy, pureblood and lord of the manor just lying here hungover, smelling like the wrong end of a dog."

"If you're here to make fun of me just leave." He groaned, "I feel bad enough as it is."

"How much did you drink?" she asked whilst deftly stripping the covers off his sticky body and replacing the tangled sheets with fresh, minty smelling ones.

"I don't remember I lost count after the second bottle. Why are you here anyway, sweet?"

"The sounds of you throwing up were too much for me to bear; I just had to witness your fall from grace first hand." She replied mischievously, grinning as he tried to look at her.

"You're an arsehole." He muttered.

"Such language, Mr. Malfoy! What would your mother say!?"

"She'd probably kill me for being so close to a mudblood." He said, faking a mean sneer that made him look much like his old, swaggering self.

"Rude!" She huffed, "Especially since I was ever so nice and came down here to help you recover, guess you don't need my help brewing a Pepper Up potion… so let me just leave." She said with a faux tragic look in her eyes, heading towards the door.

"Wait!" he cried desperately, "I forfeit, you're better than any pureblood… please, please, please make me something that will take this godforsaken head-ache away."

"Good boy." She patted his head condescendingly before producing a small bottle of the potion and handing it to him, "Lucky for you I brewed it before coming down here."

"It's going to take some time to work." He sighed before tipping the grey murky liquid down his throat.

"Well I'll just…." Hermione said awkwardly, feeling the light-hearted banter of the room freeze, "I just wanted to give you that potion, I'll ummm… go now." She headed for the door until she heard him curse under his breath.

"Stay!" he said loudly, too loudly, "I mean, you can stay if you'd like to…if you have nothing else to do, I don't mind." He trailed off awkwardly.

"I'd like that." She replied with a radiant smile, "I'll be right back, with some books and things."

Draco cursed himself in his head, what in the name of Merlin's balls was he fucking doing! Hermione was sweet? Kind? Everything he was not, he had never considered himself sadistic but knowingly allowing her to get close enough to get hurt, that was a new low even for him.

He considered himself a detached person, someone who didn't 'do' emotions, not to say he was a complete sociopath but they weren't his strong suit, especially emotions like guilt and regret which he considered to be useless and completely unnecessary. He felt guilty about very few things in his life but the mere thought of hurting Hermione made him more nauseous than the alcohol ever could. He wanted her… but more than wanting her, he wanted her to be safe and happy and he knew neither of those could be accomplished by having him at her side but in the end selfishness won out as it always would when it came to Hermione.

One day, Draco told himself… he'd let himself bask in the joy of her company for a day before talking to her and explaining the situation.

Hermione walked into the room and plonked herself down on the mattress before informing Draco of all that he had missed out whilst being passed out.

After a while though silence descended upon the couple as they lay together on Draco's bed; not a awkward silence but a comfortable hush, serene and unbroken even when Draco reached out and captured Hermione's hand in his own larger one.

"I know Draco." She whispered reluctantly, "Astoria told me."

There was never a need for much talk between them; they seemed to understand each other without speaking too much.

Draco felt a guilty sort of relief, "So you understand?"

"Contracts can be broken, Draco… I can help." She said softly, "Don't think of me doing this because of what is going on between the both of us. Even if we weren't together I would have liked to help."

"But why, what is in it for you?" said Draco, leaning over her, his head resting on his palm. The question wasn't malicious, just curious.

"It's would be a sad world we live in if every action we take is fueled by self-interest." She said thoughtfully, "I want nothing Draco, no one deserves to be unhappy and if I can do anything to prevent further unhappiness than why not. Don't you think Astoria deserves a bit of happiness."

"Half my money is tied up in her father's companies; it has taken me a long time to detangle my family's finances, Hermione. And I'm sorry but I can't let that legacy go. Not for anyone." He said firmly. "I can't pay him to let me out of the contract, I don't have enough money. I have just begun to rebuild my family's business. I'm sorry Hermione but if you do this, regardless of your intentions. I won't forgive you."

….

**DUN-DUN-DUN! Leave lovely reviews! **


	21. Chapter 21: When It Broke Apart

Draco wasn't used to blatant defiance. Not from anyone but he knew the exact moment when Hermione turned away from him, lifted herself up from the bed and walked away without a backward glance. He had expected fury, anger he could tame but this … blankness, he couldn't understand.

"It's not just your life, Draco." She said from the doorway, her voice eerily steady, "it's Astoria's and mine, you cannot forget about the people you effect around you. She deserves a chance and so do I."

"You do this…" he whispered.

"I know, if I do this we're done. I'll take that bargain, Draco." She said coldly.

"You'd just walk away, for some girl you have talked to for probably ten minutes." His disbelief colored his voice.

"Selfishness is unbecoming, Draco."

"What use are ethics when you won't have two galleons to rub together?" he said bitterly, "Go Hermione, fight your 'noble' cause."

"Don't say it so condescendingly! Isn't it worth having more to life, than this… this coldness that you surround yourself with, like… like some impregnable shield!" she cried out, her voice cracking suddenly. Her shoulders shook under the strain of her conviction.

"You expect too much from me, Granger. I'm a bastard, I wish your standards of me matched mine." He said cruelly, "What did you think? A few hard fucks and then I am going to start falling in love with you!?"

"Stop it…" she whispered, "Stop cheapening it…"

"Why little kitten, can't take the truth." He continued cruelly, his voice dangerously low, this was Draco's territory he knew how to destroy any vestige of emotion she felt for him, "Are you trying to tell me that you… _mudblood…_" he sneered, "Could change the kind of person I am, the kind of person I have been for so long. My-my Granger you have a higher opinion of your abilities than me."

"Stop it!" she screamed violently, raising her hands to cover her ears, "Why are you doing this!? This isn't you Draco."

"Get out." He said coldly, "The Game was meant to be on my terms or not at all, you're getting to be more trouble than your worth."

Hermione did all she could to suppress the gasping sobs that rose from deep within her, no she would not cry… could not cry. Without looking at him she left his rooms and went straight to her Tower bedroom.

Hermione sat on her bed, fists clenched and shoulder shaking. When had she become this person, one who ran from confrontation? But his words, such deep cutting words, had inflicted wounds upon her… invisible wounds that no one could see but she could feel their serrated edges digging into the softest parts of her soul. Parts that she had shared with him, parts that didn't want to believe he had just said all that he had.

This wasn't Draco, this wasn't the same person who had carried her to her bed from the library when she could barely stand due to exhaustion, this wasn't the person who had set up a picnic in the Astronomy tower, who had held her, loved her, touched her with such tenderness that your heart would weep.

No, this was the Draco who had killed ruthlessly, who had broken minds of men and women without the slightest feeling of remorse, this was the Draco who had iron and ice running in his veins, ice that threatened to creep its way into his heart until he had nothing but metal and chips of blackened glass in him.

She loved him; she realized with a broken sob, she loved him more than anything in the world and despite what he had said to her she couldn't leave him. Because, if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back . . . then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.

She hadn't even realized how happy she had been until now, what was this crushing sense of loss? Laying on her heart like a heavy rock? Stealthily creeping up her soul, this pain so fucking intense and dark.

She knew him, she knew that there was something within him that made him say those things to her, that scared little boy so afraid to show anyone his true feelings lest someone learn them and exploit whatever good was left within him. She knew that but what if this time he wasn't lying.

….

Draco's body sank to the floor; he wanted so desperately to call out to her but that darkness in him refused. It refused because he couldn't accept rejection one more time.

"She picked her over me." He thought, dark fury sweeping through him, "SHE WAS MEANT TO LOVE ME!" he screamed, in his fury pounding the floor over and over and over again.

"She was mine, the one good thing, the one fucking person who was mine and mine alone. She was meant to love me, to hold me!", to accept me for who I am he thought as he screamed bitterly , knowing she couldn't hear him. His fists going down again and again and again, even as the blood from his broken knuckles stained the floor.

He had lied to her, everything he said to her had been a lie; had come from that scared little boy , stuck in a dark corner of his psyche who's senses had been deprived for so long that even when he found a way out of that sightless, soundless box he had been trapped in he had snarled at it like a suspicious animal and thrust it away from him. His prison was a creation of his own mind, he couldn't escape it, not without her… not ever.

"She was mine." He said brokenly his head bent, his body huddled in a fetal ball.

….

**Guys I know I've been shit at uploading but I am in my final year of school so bear with me; I have exams and uni entrances and stuff. I know it sucks but I love your support and your feedback so please don't forget to review (even though I don't deserve it) but I do promise to try to upload more and more often. **


	22. Chapter 22: When Secrets Were Revealed

Love is a strange thing but then so is pride and Hermione Granger was a proud woman, proud of the fact that she had never debased herself for a man, proud enough to admit that though she loved Draco it wouldn't be easy to forgive him, self-respect was something that had been drilled into her from a very young age but she didn't truly understand dignity and self-respect until now.

Draco was remorseful, she could see it in his eyes and it would have been so easy to forgive him but she left as he opened his mouth because he didn't deserve her forgiveness just yet. Obviously there were reasons he reacted the way he did, said the things he did but he had to learn no one treated Hermione Granger like that. Last night in the flurry of emotion she had felt … _guilty… _and that was the stunning moment when she had to pull herself away and evaluate. She wasn't responsible for this… breakdown of their relationship and by that logic nor was he, they were both doing what they felt was right. Neither had gone about it in an admirable way but nonetheless they had done what they felt was right. She couldn't sit back and watch as someone, anyone had to sacrifice their happiness for something as trivial as monetary gain.

"_It's easy to say that isn't It." _his bitter voice came back, _"It's only when you have money can you spout nonsense like money don't matter. I've had money and then I've had it taken from me and I will not let someone take my family's legacy from me again."_

He was wrong she assured herself, there were other ways to go about this whole mess. He just refused to see them.

Or maybe you meddled just a little further than you should have this time suggest a quiet voice inside her.

No! Hermione shook her head violently, what was happening to Astoria was barbaric and unfair. In what civilized world did educated girls still have arranged marriages?

She could have left home if it was such an issue said the same pesky voice. But Hermione refused to think about that. _Because that would mean you fucked up. _

I have to talk to her, thought Hermione as she walked towards the library. We have to convince Draco to help.

As soon as she entered the library she made her way towards the stacks, it was her private thinking place. Usually during the evenings it became a lover's tryst favorite but right now with the sun still shining she knew she'd have it to herself. She blushed when unbidden a memory came to her mind. She and Draco had been here before.

"_Draco! We can't, not here!" she said scandalized. _

"_Are you scared we'll get caught by Prince?" he said with his signature wicked smile, "Come on Hermione." He whispered nuzzling her soft neck, "Live a little." _

"_This is wrong." She said weakly. "Someone might see us." _

_Draco's icy breath caressed her sensitive nape; her pulse throbbed with exquisite excitement. _

"_You liar." He said, his deliciously low voice dropping an octave, "You want me to push you up against this bookshelf and take you." _

"_N-n-ooo." She whimpered, while her body curled closer to his. Both delicate wrists caught in his firm grip. _

"_Bad girl." He laughed softly, "I find it hard to believe you haven't had this fantasy before." _

_She was breathing hard, her chest heaving in breathless little huffs. Before she could reply he was backing her into the darkened alcove, one hand caressing her soft belly and the other holding her arm up against the dark wooden shelf. _

"_Panties on fire." He teased in his midnight voice, "Should I check if they are indeed on fire?" _

"_Ooooh." She moaned as his fingers feathered over her softly concave belly and down between her tightly clenched thighs. _

"_Do you need me to put out the fire?" he laughed softly, "I could, for a price." _

"_You're horrible, Draco." She whispered leaning her head against his chest, her trembling hand clutching the lapel of his robes tightly. Her knees were so weak that she feared if she let go she'd collapse into a hapless mess on the floor. _

"_Don't you want to hear my price, sweet thing?" he breathed near the soft shell of her ear, as she arched up into his arms. His exploring fingers having found their sweet target. _

"_Mmhm." She nodded, barely coherent. _

"_If I take you here, the next weekend you remain locked up in the Room as my personal Arabian princess, concubine… naked." _

_A delicious shiver made its way down her back. _

"_You like that idea, don't you." he chuckled, "I could make you wear a ruby belly chain and anklets around those delicate little feet of yours, a veil too with beautiful henna upon your arms and legs. You'd look like the most precious of treasures all tied up in ruby and gold." _

"_Make love to me, Draco." She moaned softly. _

Hermione was brought back abruptly by the sound of hushed voices.

"What the hell did you say to her Astoria?" growled a voice Hermione recognized as Draco's.

"Did you break-up with her?"

"What the hell do you think? Her heart…" his voice softened, "Her heart is so gentle it won't allow you to face this kind of injustice. Couldn't you have let me have just a little more time with her?" he voice ended on a tormented note.

"I'm just protecting you and her!" Astoria flared furiously. "Father knows about her, Draco! And he isn't about to tolerate your little affair, he may be a businessman but he is also the most bigoted, prejudiced and absolutely castest man I know. The only reason he wasn't incarcerate after the War was because he was smart enough not to get caught! There are things my father could do to her, especially if he saw her as a threat to the one and only thing he gives bollocks about and right now she is deemed a threat. If you don't marry me and MF/GI doesn't remain in our family father loses more than half of his empire! Do you think he's going to let that happen? Be logical Draco! For fucks sake this is the same man who gagged his eldest daughter and apparated her to her husband's house when she came home crying!"

"I could have protected her." His voice was low, possessive and irrationally calm.

"You're still a student, Draco. Remember you get a stipend from the money of your company he controls; he has men and women loyal to him who will put her down like a fucking dog! For him the moment you chose to defy him it becomes personal, right now it's just business and trust me you don't want him to get personal. He married Daphne off to Marcus just because she ran away." Astoria said coldly, "I told her I'd let her help to get her away from you because I knew how you'd react but in reality no one can help us. Father isn't going to allow it. Not with the stakes so high, right now the market is controlled by Malfoy Industries and Greengrass Inc. do you realize the revenue both the companies will be bringing in when you introduce muggle technology into the Wizarding market? Right now the exclusive monopoly lies in the hands of both of these companies; it's his biggest coup yet. He won't let something as trivial as romance hamper that goal."

"This is a fucking mess."

"Protect her Draco, she's in danger." Said Astoria finally. "And don't lie to her, tell her the truth. She might forgive you for being such a cuntbucket."

"What a lovely way with words you have." Came the sharply sarcastic voice.

"Fuck you."

"Why are you doing this, Tori? I've never known you to give a shit about anyone except those close to you and you don't even know Hermione." He said curiously.

"She was willing to help me, Draco." Said Astoria, her voice soft, "She doesn't even know me, I could have been the most spoilt, vain and just plain shite person but she gave me a fair listen. She sat and heard what I had to say even though I'm the person who is eventually going to marry the man she is in love with. It'd hard to imagine that being easy. People like that, they're special…"

"She is." He said softly, "She really is special."

…..

**Tell me what you think about Astoria and how her character is developing? Leave nice reviews! **


	23. Preview

Blaise Zabini studied the letter in his hand for the umpteenth time in the day, his mother's long slanting words and her crisp manner of communication with no frills attached was nothing new to Blaise even though he barely received letters from the woman, she wrote exactly like she talked… carefully, as if she was choosing each word, weighing its impact and delivering it in the sharpest manner possible. She was Slytherin through and through but her magic wasn't just learnt at Hogwarts, her magic was something deeper, more powerful, and sinister.

Maura Adrieux was a curious mix of Creole and Asian with a little Irish thrown in for good measure. With smooth, dark skin the color of warm chocolate and tilted eyes the color of shining emeralds, her face and beautiful body belied her age. Her hair rippled like dark kinked silk and her full mouth and delicate build prompted people to try and protect her but Blaise knew better it wasn't men who needed to protect his mother; it was men who needed to be protected against his mother. He had kept his father's name; something that greatly disappointed his mother who looked to be the most innately sensual and sexual woman in existence but was in reality extremely dispassionate.

Maura wasn't shy and Blaise had grown up surrounded by legions of admiring men who worshipped at his beautiful mother's feet but she had made sure he knew exactly what she thought of men. She called them her toys and each time one broke, she'd go out to get a brand new one.

Blaise glared down at the letter that held some extremely disturbing news, something that could mean the end of their hard won peace and fragile relationship with the rest of the wizarding community. Slytherin's had always been mistrusted before the war but they had held powerful government positions and were wealthy so that dislike hadn't been an overt as it was now, now when most of the corrupt officials had been hanged and strict actions had been taken against anyone involved with the Dark Side during the second war. And his mother never shared her secrets unless it benefits her somehow.

_Morgana's Clan, _Merlin thought Blaise a shudder making its way down his back. That sounded ominous.

….

**I apologize profusely for not uploading but I can't do much about it as I have my 'A' Levels. This is a little preview of what is going to be happening in the Game, the story is taking a new direction and everything is going to tie up together nicely. I know what I've been doing is not cool but wow thank you so much for your support! 500 followers and I love each and every single one of you for sticking by the story! As you can see I'll be introducing some lesser knows characters, I enjoyed the reaction people were having to Astoria and as someone said that usually though they exist in the story they have no part so I want to expand to some more characters who I feel are going to add a whole new dimension to the story. How you enjoy where it goes. **


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